NASA spacecraft ‘touching’ the Sun’s surface, achieved milestone details here

For the first time in history, a spacecraft that officially “touched” the Sun fell through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona, an extreme atmosphere that is about 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Parker Solar Probe successfully entered the Sun’s corona during the spacecraft’s eighth close to the Sun in April. Scientists said it took a few months to get the data back and then several months to confirm.

A scientific paper describing the milestone was published in Physical Review Letters.

How was this feat possible?

The historic moment was achieved thanks to the great collaboration of scientists and engineers, including members of the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) who built and supervised a major instrument on board the probe: the Solar Probe Cup. The cup collected particles from the Sun’s atmosphere that helped scientists verify that the spacecraft had indeed crossed into the corona.

“The goal of this whole mission is to learn how the Sun works. We can accomplish this by flying in the solar atmosphere,” said Michael Stevens, an astrophysicist at the CfA who helped monitor the Cup.

a spacecraft launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has achieved what was once thought impossible.

For the first time in history, a spacecraft that officially “touched” the Sun fell through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona, an extreme atmosphere that is about 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Parker Solar Probe successfully entered the Sun’s corona during the spacecraft’s eighth close to the Sun in April. Scientists said it took a few months to get the data back and then several months to confirm.

A scientific paper describing the milestone was published in Physical Review Letters.

How was this feat possible?

The historic moment was achieved thanks to the great collaboration of scientists and engineers, including members of the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) who built and supervised a major instrument on board the probe: the Solar Probe Cup. The cup collected particles from the Sun’s atmosphere that helped scientists verify that the spacecraft had indeed crossed into the corona.

“The goal of this whole mission is to learn how the Sun works. We can accomplish this by flying in the solar atmosphere,” said Michael Stevens, an astrophysicist at the CfA who helped monitor the Cup.

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“The only way to do this is by crossing the outer limit for the spacecraft, which scientists call the Alfven point. So, a fundamental part of this mission is to be able to measure whether or not we’ve passed this critical point.” ”

The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind the plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from exiting. The Alfven point occurs when the solar winds exceed a critical speed and can break free of the corona and the Sun’s magnetic fields. Prior to April 28, the spacecraft was flying just past this point.

“If you look at close-up pictures of the Sun, sometimes you’ll see these bright loops or hairs that break free from the Sun but then become attached to it,” Stevens explained. “That’s the region we’ve been drifting into — a region where plasma, atmosphere and air are magnetically trapped and interacting with the Sun.”

According to data collected by CUP, the spacecraft entered the corona three times for five hours at one point on April 28.

used equipment

CFA astrophysicist Anthony Case, Solar Probe Cup instrument scientist, says the device itself is an incredible feat of engineering.

“The amount of light hitting Parker Solar Probe determines how hot the spacecraft will be,” Case explained. “While most of the probe is protected by a heat shield, our cup is one of only two devices that stick out and have no protection. It is exposed to direct sunlight and greatly increased when making these measurements. Works at high temperatures; it’s literally red-hot, with parts of the appliance exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit [1,000 degrees Celsius], and glowing red-orange.”

To avoid corrosion, tools are manufactured from materials with a high melting point, such as tungsten, niobium, molybdenum, and sapphire.

How will this help in research?

But the success of Parker Solar Probe represents much more than technological innovation. There are many mysteries about the nearest star to Earth that scientists are hoping this investigation can help solve.

For example, “we don’t really know why the Sun’s outer atmosphere is so hot compared to the Sun,” Stevens said. “The Sun is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit [5,500 degrees Celsius], but its atmosphere is about 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit [2 million degrees Celsius],

He added, “We know that energy comes from magnetic fields bubbling up from the Sun’s surface, but we don’t know how the Sun’s atmosphere absorbs this energy.”

In addition, outbursts of the Sun, such as solar flares and high-speed solar winds, can have a direct impact on Earth, disrupting power grids and radio communications.

Parker Solar Probe could help better understand all of these events as it continues to orbit the Sun and takes measurements and data for scientists to analyze on Earth.

“The plasma around the Sun can act as a laboratory that teaches us about the processes occurring in nearly every celestial object throughout the universe,” Case said.