This week, NASA's Parker Solar Probe attempts to get closer to the Sun than any other object. man made However, due to communication disruptions as planned The team behind the mission therefore does not know if the spacecraft's daring mission will be successful for at least another day.
On Tuesday, the Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to arrive within a minute. Uncomfortably close or 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) from the sun's surface. During which time the spacecraft should not come into contact with mission control, according to NASAThe probe is scheduled to send off beacons on Friday to confirm whether it survived its record-breaking close encounter with the Sun.
“No man-made object has ever passed this close to a star,” said Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. “We are excited to hear back from the spacecraft as it orbits the Sun.”
If successful, Tuesday's flyby will be the first of three meetings at the same distance. During the closest period to the sun The spacecraft will zip past the Sun at speeds of up to 430,000 mph. It broke its own record for the fastest speed of a man-made object. with such speed The probe will be able to travel from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia in one second. during approach The spacecraft must withstand temperatures as hot as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (982.2 degrees Celsius) while maintaining a much cooler interior temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius). Parker does this using heat shields several inches thick. which reflects most of the sun's heat
The Parker Solar Probe launched in August 2018 to observe our star at unprecedented close range. Since its launch The spacecraft has prepared for its closest or closest approach to the Sun. By swinging closer to the sun with each orbit. Parker has made its closest approach to the Sun 21 times, coming within 7.26 million kilometers of the Sun's surface. In November, the Parker Solar Probe operated. Seventh and final flyby of VenusIt takes advantage of the planet's gravitational pull to place the spacecraft on its closest orbit to the Sun.
As it accelerates toward the Sun's surface, the Parker probe will collect valuable information about the star and its influence on the space environment around it. “This is an example of NASA's bold mission. It does what no one has ever done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe,” Arik Posner, NASA's Parker Solar Probe project scientist, said in a statement. “We can't wait to receive the first status update from the spacecraft. and begin receiving scientific data in the coming weeks.”