NASA's Parker Solar Probe will soon pass nearby the sun. But, in its 12th sun-grazing mission, it will be 14 times closer to the solar system's central star compared to Mercury.
(Photo : Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
In this handout provided by NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is seen in this long exposure photograph as it launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission.
This spacecraft is the first one to visit the sun. Although it is just the size of a small car, NASA ensured that it is properly designed to endure the extreme heat emitted by the solar system's solar star at certain distances.
"The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, travels directly through the Sun's atmosphere--ultimately to a distance of bout 4 million miles from the surface.
Parker Solar Probe launched aboard a Delta IV-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT," said the international space union via its official website.
NASA Parker Solar Probe To Fly 14x Closer To The Sun Than Mercury
According to Space.Com's latest report, the next activity of NASA's Parker Solar Probe will happen on June 1, marking the halfway point of the solar mission.
(Photo : Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
In this handout provided by NASA, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 12, 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona
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Since it will be 14 times closer to the sun than the first planet in the solar system, the distance that the spacecraft plans to reach is around 5.3 million miles away from the star.
This is almost the same distance that it achieved on Feb. 25. When it comes to speed, the Parker Solar Probe can reach up to 364,660 mph.
To give you a better idea, it is almost 21 times faster than the speed of the International Space Station.
Thanks to this capability, NASA expects the solar probe to reach its targeted distance at around 6:50 p.m. EDT.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), the developer of the solar spacecraft, said that the upcoming sun-grazing mission would encourage NASA and other space agencies to pursue more challenging space activities.
Why Parker Solar Probe's 12th Mission is Important
JHUAPL explained that the upcoming activity of the Parker Solar Probe is quite essential for space weather observation enhancements.
It will allow NASA and other space agencies to understand more about the so-called Alfven surface, the area of a star where solar winds are emitted.
If you want to see further details about the importance of the Parker Solar Probe, you can visit this link.
Recently, an update for the NASA Mars Orbiter glitch was announced.
Meanwhile, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a photo of two dancing galaxies.
For more news updates about NASA and its Parker Solar Probe, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
