NASA compared this historic achievement to that of man landing on the moon, and said the mission would help to better understand the Sun’s history and its impact on the Solar System. “This historic achievement marks an important step in the Parker solar probe and the leap in solar science.
Just as landing on the moon helped scientists understand how the moon formed, touching the sun’s atmosphere could help us gain crucial information about this nearest star and its impact on the solar system, “NASA said in a statement.
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Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of the Directorate of Science Mission at NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The probe will also help to understand more about the ‘switchbacks’, the magnetic structures found on the surface of the sun. Speaking to the media, project scientist Noor Rouafi said the corona was more dusty than expected.
☀️ Our #ParkerSolarProbe has touched the Sun!
For the first time in history, a spacecraft has flown through the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona. Here’s what it means: https://t.co/JOPdn7GTcv
# AGU21 pic.twitter.com/qOdEdIRyaS
– NASA (@NASA) December 14, 2021
The Sun’s strong magnetic field and surface temperature of 9,941 degrees make the spacecraft’s mission difficult. NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe in 2018. At a speed of 430,000 miles per hour, the Parker Solar Probe plans to reach within 4 million miles of the Sun’s surface. In 1976, the Helios 2 probe entered the Sun’s surface at a distance of 26.55 million miles.
The Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft carried aluminum plates with the greetings of humanity on them, while the Parker Solar Probe began its mission with a 1.1 million-memory memory card submitted by the public. The Parker Solar Probe is named after Eugene Parker, who developed the theory of the existence of the solar wind. This is NASA’s first mission to a living person.
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