NEW YORK — The NASA spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe, is gearing up for its second of three scheduled close encounters with the sun’s blazing atmosphere. This remarkable mission follows its historic first pass last December, where it ventured closer to the sun than any previous human-made object, maintaining a distance of just 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers).
NASA has planned for the probe to attempt this daring journey once more on Saturday. During these daring maneuvers, the probe remains out of communication range, and the mission team anticipates re-establishing contact by Tuesday afternoon to verify its status.
Parker Solar Probe holds the title of the fastest spacecraft built by humans, as it is expected to achieve an astonishing speed of 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at its nearest approach to the sun. Launched in 2018, the spacecraft has since traveled directly through the sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, which appears like a crown in images of the sun.
The information Parker collects is essential for scientists, who aim to gain a deeper understanding of why the sun’s corona is inexplicably hundreds of times hotter than the surface. Additionally, the mission seeks to unravel the mysteries behind the solar wind, a high-velocity stream of charged particles perpetually emitted from the sun.
