The Parker probe, launched by the National American Space Agency (NASA) on August 12th, will be the first one ever to get close to the Sun. At the closest spot, the spacecraft will break through the solar atmosphere, which is located 6.16 million kilometres (the equivalent to 483 laps around the Earth) from the surface of the Sun.

It might seem far, but this distance is seven times closer than any spaceship has ever gotten to the king star. The last time an object built by man was close to the Sun was in 1976, when the Helios-2 probe got to 43 million kilometres from the surface – and 15 million kilometres from its atmosphere.

The ship will pass through Venus before arriving at the largest star in our system, which should happen in 2025. When it gets close to the Sun, it will cover the same distance between São Paulo, Brazil and Beijing, China in just a minute and a half.

At the speed of 700,000 kilometres per hour, the probe which is the size of a small car should become the fastest object built by man. It will go around the Sun 24 times.

Solving Mysteries

Have you noticed that the further away you are from fire, the less heat you feel? In the Sun, the opposite happens: while the surface temperature is more than 5.000ºC, the temperature of the corona (solar atmosphere) reaches 1.6 million degrees Celsius. The mission plans to collect information to explain this major difference.

Scientists also want to understand solar storms and their impact on Planet Earth. As of now, we know that the solar corona emits particles that cause strong winds, which can evolve into space storms and cause power outages on Earth, for example.

QUESTIONS

1) Check the correct option:
a) Eugene Parker was the first man to set foot on the Sun.
b) A space probe is a ship with passengers.
c) The Parker probe will be the first machine built by humans to reach the solar atmosphere.
d) The hydrogen fiber cover and a salt-based cooler will ensure that the probe does not melt.

2) What do you think getting close to the Sun is like?

Ixi! Você bateu no paywall!

Ainda não é assinante? Assine agora e tenha acesso ilimitado ao conteúdo do Joca.

Assinante? Faça Login

Voltar para a home

Ou faça sua assinatura e tenha acesso a todo o conteúdo do Joca

Assine