almost no one ever writes about it parker solar probe now and.
Sure, the spacecraft got some attention when it launched. After all, it is the fastest moving object that man has ever created. At its maximum speed, due to the Sun's gravitational pull, the probe reaches a velocity of 430,000 miles per hour, or more than one-sixth of 1 percent the speed of light. That kind of speed would get you from New York City to Tokyo in less than a minute.
And Parker Solar Probe also has the distinction of being the first NASA spacecraft named after a living person. At the time of its launch, in August 2018, physicist Eugene Parker was 91 years old.
But in the six years since the probe has been hurtling through outer space and flying near the Sun? Not so much. Let's face it, the astrophysical properties of the Sun and its complex structure are not something most people think about on a daily basis.
However, the tiny probe – it weighs less than a metric ton, and its scientific payload is only 110 pounds (50 kilograms) – is about to turn to its star. Quite literally. On Christmas Eve, Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach to the Sun. It will come within just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) of the solar surface, flying through the solar atmosphere for the first time.
Yes, it's going to be pretty hot. Scientists estimate that the probe's heat shield will endure temperatures of more than 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 C) on Christmas Eve, a sharp contrast to the North Pole.
going straight to the source
I spoke to Nicky Fox, head of science at NASA, to understand why the probe is being given so much trouble. Before moving to NASA Headquarters, Fox was the project scientist for Parker Solar Probe, and he explained that scientists really want to understand the origin of the solar wind.
It is a stream of charged particles that emanate from the Sun's outermost layer, the corona. Fox said scientists have been wondering about this particular mystery for more than half a century.
“Quite simply, we want to find the birthplace of the solar wind,” he said.
In the 1950s, before we had satellites or spacecraft to measure the Sun's properties, Parker predicted the existence of this solar wind. The scientific community was quite skeptical about the idea – in fact many ridiculed Parker – until the Mariner 2 mission began measuring the solar wind in 1962.
As the scientific community began to embrace Parker's theory, they wanted to know more about the solar wind, which is a fundamental component of the entire Solar System. Although the solar wind is invisible to the naked eye, when you see the aurora on Earth, that solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere in a particularly violent way.