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It's no wonder that early humans worshiped the sun as a god. He is, in many ways, the source of our being, the fundamental symbol of life and power.
Although it is so intimate and essential at every second of our life, the Sun is also distant, untouchable and unknowable. So it's no small feat that Parker NASA Solar Probe, launched August 12 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, brings man closer to the sun than ever before.
The science of the sun is still a mystery. But now, thanks to innovations in materials science, space scientists hope the Parker mission will answer some of the questions they have been asking themselves for decades.
They hope to achieve particular gains in their understanding of the solar wind. The solar wind is a stream of charged particles that are continuously ejected from the sun. Thanks to the protection of the Earth's planetary magnetic field, these particles are deflected before reaching the surface of the Earth. But we still see and feel their effects. When they interact with the Earth's magnetic field, they create the northern lights. And sometimes, particularly strong solar winds can wreak havoc with our GPS systems and our satellites.
The NASA spacecraft will actually sample the solar wind near acceleration, hoping to give scientists an unprecedented opportunity to better understand the Sun from direct and close observations.
Scientists also hope to learn more about the mystery of temperature in the solar corona, the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere. In theory, as the distance from the Sun increases, one can expect a cooling of the temperatures. But temperatures inside the crown can reach millions of degrees Celsius, which is a huge spike from the 6,000 degrees Celsius found on the Sun's surface. Parker will therefore have to withstand high temperatures.
So, how is Parker going to the Sun? At its closest point, the probe will reach 3.85 million kilometers from the sun's surface. Scientists say this is a touching distance. To put in perspective 3.85 million miles, the Earth is nearly 93 million kilometers from the Sun. This means that if the distance between the Earth and the Sun was one meter, Parker would be about 4 cm from the Sun.
If that was not impressive enough, the probe is set to travel temporarily faster than any other man-made object. At its quickest, it should reach an expected speed of 430,000 miles per hour, or 120 miles per second. It's London to Sydney in less than two minutes ashore.
There is no degree in physics to understand that approaching the Sun is a huge and impressive challenge. And until now, this challenge has been considered almost insurmountable. With the Parker probe, for the first time, humanity reaches out to a finger and dares to touch the sun.
Emily Dinsmore is a writer.
Photo by: Getty
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