NASA’s Parker Solar Probe aims to get closer to the sun than ever before

A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close look at the sun. Since then, it passes directly through the solar corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.

The next step: the closest approach to the sun. Parker is expected to pass through the sizzling solar atmosphere on Tuesday and pass within 6 million kilometers of the sun’s surface, a record.

At that point, if the Sun and Earth were on opposite ends of a football field, Parker “would be on the 4-yard line,” said NASA’s Joe Westlake.

Mission leaders won’t know how Parker behaved until a few days after the flyby, because the spacecraft will be out of communications range.

Parker planned to get closer to the sun more than seven times the previous spacecraft, reaching 430,000 mph (690,000 km/h) at closest approach. It is the fastest spacecraft ever built and is equipped with a heat shield capable of withstanding scorching temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).

It will continue to orbit the sun at this distance at least until September. Scientists hope to better understand why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic flow of charged particles constantly moving away from the sun.

The sun’s warm rays make life possible on Earth. But violent solar storms can temporarily jam radio communications and disrupt power supplies.

The sun is currently in the peak phase of its 11-year cycle, triggering colorful auroras in unexpected places.

“He’s our closest, friendliest neighbor,” Westlake said, “but he’s also a little angry sometimes.”

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