The Parker Solar Probe has completed a historic approach to the Sun, breaking the speed record for any human-made object.
Safe and sound. NASA detected this morning the beacon signal of the Parker Solar Probe, a simple tone to indicate that it is in good condition and that it is functioning normally after having touched the Sun’s atmosphere on December 24.
The spacecraft is expected to send more detailed telemetry data on January 1, but for now we know that it survived its last approach, in which its thick carbon fiber-reinforced heat shield reached temperatures of 1,371 ° C.
Double record. On Christmas Eve, the 50kg spacecraft passed just 6.1 million kilometers from the solar surface; its closest flyby of the star.
Propelled by the gravitational assist of Venus, the Parker probe reached a record speed of 692,000 kilometers per hour, entering the solar corona fast enough to avoid falling into the star.
What is he doing there? The Parker probe is on a mission to locate the origin of the solar wind, a continuous flow of material emanating from the Sun and affecting the entire solar system, predicted by astrophysicist Eugene N. Parker in the 1950s.
Their measurements are helping scientists better understand how material in the solar corona heats up to millions of degrees and why the Sun’s energetic particles accelerate to near the speed of light.
Image | POT
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