NASA Probe Calls Home After Close Encounter With Sun
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – NASA Probe Calls Home After Close Encounter With Sun The U.S. space agency says its Parker Solar Probe has called home after it survived the closest human-backed approach to the sun in recorded history.
NASA announced Friday that the spacecraft sent a signal following its successful attempt to pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the scorching star.
The agency said it received an all-clear message from Parker on Thursday night confirming it survived the journey.
“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” said Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun, Parker has since flown straight through its crownlike outer atmosphere, or corona.
Scientists hope to understand better why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic stream of charged particles constantly blasting away from the sun.
“By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet,” Fox stressed.
It’s the fastest spacecraft built by humans and reached 430,000 miles per hour (690,000 kilometers per hour) at its closest approach. NASA said it is outfitted with a heat shield that can withstand scorching temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius).
“It both is our closest, friendliest neighbor,” NASA’s Joe Westlake explained, “but also, at times, is a little angry.”
With its close brush complete, the craft is due to circle the sun at this distance through at least September.
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