NASA PARKER SOLAR PROBE

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Saturday i.e. 11th August 2018, launched their maiden mission towards the Sun to study its surface from a distance of around 4 million Km, the nearest to which any space-craft will try to explore sun from. By November 2018, the solar probe will be in a distance of 15 million Km from the Sun and will pass through Venus in mid October. It will be reaching a distance of 4 Million Km from Sun in 7 years and will sling-shot around Venus 7 times in 7 years.

What Will be the speed of NASA PARKER SOLAR PROBE ?

It will be the fastest moving space-ship ever built. It will cruise at a speed of 4,30,000 miles per hour i.e. around 1100000 km/hr.

How much time will Solar Probe take to reach nearest to the Sun?

7 years will be taken by Solar Probe to establish itself in the orbit of the Sun. After reaching a distance of around 15 million Km from the Sun it will start orbiting her path to move closer to Sun.

What is the motive of the mission?

The motive of the mission if to reach close enough to take detailed measurements of the outermost layer of the star. This would help us to know more about the characteristics of the Sun, the reasons for regular blasts occurring in the Sun. study solar waves and atmosphere around the Sun.

Why will Solar Probe not melt?

NASA Solar Probe will be facing temperatures of over million degree Celsius (10 Lac – 1 crore Celsius) on its route towards the Sun as it will near towards the Corona (center of the Sun). At such times the question is How will Solar Probe face Such temperatures without melting down? “The key lies in its custom heat shield and an autonomous system that helps protect the mission from the Sun’s intense light emission, but does allow the coronal material to ‘touch’ the spacecraft”, NASA said in a statement.

While the Parker Solar Probe will travel through a space with temperatures of several million degrees, the surface of the heat shield that faces the Sun will only get heated to about 1,400 degree Celsius.

What is the total cost of the Project?

The entire project costs 1.5 billion $ and project will remain active till 2025.

What is the size of the Solar Probe?

Solar Probe is equal to the size of a small car, equipped with Antennas will be deployed automatically on route towards the sun.

Why is the project name is after Parker?

In the Mid 1950’s a young physicist named Eugene Parker proposed a number of concepts about how stars — including our sun — give off energy. He called this cascade of energy the solar wind, and he described an entire complex system of plasmas, magnetic fields and energetic particles that make up this phenomenon. Parker also theorized an explanation for the superheated solar corona, which is — contrary to what was expected by then-known physics laws — hotter than the surface of the sun itself. His theory suggested that regular, but small, solar explosions called nanoflares could, in enough abundance, cause this heating.