Parker Solar Probe

Why in News?

Recently, Parker Solar Probe made history by surviving the closest-ever approach to the Sun.

Launched in – 2018.
Launched by – NASA.
Mission – To “Touch the Sun”.
It is designed to fly within about 4 million miles (6.5 million kilometers) of the Sun's surface.
Aim – To make observations of the outer corona of the Sun.

It became the 1^st spacecraft to fly through the corona, the Sun’s upper atmosphere in 2021.

Study objectives – To trace the energy flow, to study magnetic fields, plasma, energetic particles, and to image the solar wind.
Movement – It gradually circling closer towards the sun, using flybys of Venus to gravitationally pull it into a tighter orbit with the sun.
Every orbit bringing it closer, the probe faces brutal heat and radiation.
4 Instruments
- Fields Experiment (FIELDS)
- Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (ISIS)
- Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR)
- Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP)

Thermal protector – An 11.5cm thick carbon-composite shield from temperatures of nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Speed – It moves faster than any human-made object, up to 430,000 mph.
Significance – It flies more than 7 times closer to the Sun than any spacecraft and over 7 years, it will complete 24 orbits around the Sun.

References