Spacecraft attempts to get closest to the Sun ever

A NASA spacecraft is attempting to make history by reaching the closest point ever to the Sun.

Parker Solar Probe is penetrating the outer atmosphere of our star, enduring brutal temperatures and extreme radiation.

It is out of communication for several days during this burning hot flight and scientists will be waiting for a signal on December 27 to see if it survives.

Hopefully the investigation can help us better understand how the Sun works.

Dr Nicola Fox, head of science at NASA, told BBC News: “For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don’t experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually go there.

“And so we can’t really experience the atmosphere of our star unless we fly through it.”

Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018, heading toward the center of our Solar System.

It has passed the Sun 21 times so far and is constantly coming closer, but its journey on Christmas Eve is breaking records.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million km) from the surface of our star.

That may not seem so close, but NASA’s Nicola Fox puts it in perspective: “We’re 93 million miles away from the Sun, so if I put the Sun and Earth a meter apart, Parker Solar Probe is four centimeters away from the Sun. Is – so it’s close.”

The probe must endure temperatures of 1,400C and radiation that could damage onboard electronics.

It is protected by an 11.5 cm (4.5 in) thick carbon-composite shield but the spacecraft’s strategy is to get in and out quickly.

In fact, it will move faster than any man-made object, at 430,000 miles per hour – the equivalent of flying from London to New York in less than 30 seconds.

So why go to so much effort to “touch” the Sun?

Scientists hope that as the spacecraft passes through our star’s outer atmosphere – its corona – it will solve a long-standing mystery.

“The corona is really very hot, and we don’t know why,” explains Dr. Jennifer Millard, an astronomer at Fifth Star Labs.

“The surface of the Sun is about 6,000C or so, but the corona, this thin outer atmosphere that you can see during a solar eclipse, reaches millions of degrees – and that’s very far from the Sun. So how does that atmosphere get hot? Used to be ?”

The mission should also help scientists better understand the solar wind – the constant stream of charged particles emitted from the corona.

When these particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, the sky lights up with bright aurora lights.

But it can also cause so-called space weather problems, disrupting power-grids, electronics and communications systems.

“Understanding the Sun, its activity, space weather, the solar wind is very important to our everyday lives on Earth,” says Dr. Millard.

NASA scientists are eagerly waiting for Christmas while the spacecraft is out of contact with Earth.

Nicola Fox says that as soon as the signal is sent home, the team will send her a green heart message to let her know the test is OK.

She admits she is nervous about this audacious endeavor, but has confidence in the investigation.

“I would worry about the spacecraft. But we’ve really designed it to withstand all these brutal, brutal conditions. It’s a tough, tough little spacecraft.”