In April, this year, NASA’s Solar Probe Parker crossed the critical surface Alfven and entered the solar atmosphere.
In 2020, the Solar Probe Parker was launched around the sun into a spiral trajectory. The closest spacecraft to the sun ever is the only Parker Solar Probe.
In human history for the very first time, it happens that, the spacecraft has entered the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere which is known as ‘Corona’. The Parker Solar Probe of the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has collected the samples and particles of the sun’s magnetic field.
On 14th December, NASA published the report in which, the Parker Solar Probe has gone beyond the critical surface Alfven, for the first time it has crossed the boundary of the sun’s outermost layer and entered the solar atmosphere on 28th April 2021.
This impressive and difficult achievement was admired by the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at headquarters of NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen who stated that the findings of the Porker Solar Probe will further assist scientists to learn and understand more about the sun, its evolution, and its impact on the solar system and it will also keep updating them about other stars present in the universe.
How did the Solar Probe Parker enter the solar atmosphere?
The sun is encircled by a superheated atmosphere along with its outermost layer known as ‘Corona’ beyond which the material blows off due to its magnetic pull and gravity which cannot escape.
Solar material with high-rate speed is enough to break the corona, just like rocket take-off from the surface of the earth, goes into the broad solar system like solar winds.
The corona’s remote pictures helped scientists to predict its distance should be 10 to 20 solar radii from the sun’s surface which is approximate, 4.3 to 8.6 million miles.
The Solar Probe Parker was introduced in 2018, into a spiral trajectory which is around the sun that further kept going closer to the atmosphere of the sun, and during its eight catches of the sun, the Solar Probe Parker come across the specific magnetic and particle conditions at 18.8 solar radii which are approximately 8.1 million miles.
Even though the duration of the first probe was of only a few hours, and it will fly through the atmosphere of the sun again and again in the future as the solar cycle of 11 years picks up, due to the corona extending outside.
How did the Parker Solar Probe Survive in the heat of Sun?
The Parker Solar Probe is the only closest spacecraft to the sun, and due to the thermal shield, that is made up of carbon-composite material and is able to handle extreme temperatures, which holds up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit or 1,377 degrees Celsius.
This shiel cuts the heat of the Sun just like a racing car cuts the air. Whereas, cutting of racing car through the air make easier for the one which is behind it to accelerate as the resistance of the wind id decreased.
Comparably, the thermal shield drives the heat away and creates a manageable temperature for the Probe along with its instruments.
