NASA's Parker Solar Probe will blast off in 2018 to explore the sun

[Shawn Knight]

NASA on Wednesday shared details on an upcoming mission that’ll send a probe closer to the surface of the sun than any spacecraft before it.

The Parker Solar Probe, slated to launch no earlier than July 31, 2018, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is roughly the size of a small car. It’ll use Venus’ gravity during seven flybys over the course of about seven years to bring its orbit close enough to the sun to conduct the desired experiments.

Facing intense heat and radiation, the probe will actually fly through the sun’s outer atmosphere (the cornea) where it’ll come within 3.7 million miles of the sun’s surface (for reference, Earth is on average about 93 million miles from our star).

At its closest point, the Parker Solar Probe will experience temperatures approaching 2,500 F (1,377 C) as it zips by at 430,000 mph. Thanks to its 4.5-inch thick carbon-composite heat shielding, however, the spacecraft’s internal payload should never get above room temperature.

NASA says the primary goals of the mission are to trace how energy and heat move through the sun’s solar cornea and explore what accelerates both solar wind and solar energetic particles. Scientists have sought answers to these questions for more than 60 years but only recently has thermal engineering advanced to the point where it’s safe to send a probe.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/69526-nasa-parker-solar-probe-blast-off-2018-explore.html

 

[VitalyT]

This isn't how it went in the Sunshine movie

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

NASA doesn't have to deal with those extreme circumstances and temperatures if they have the intelligence to carry out this little expedition of theirs at night.

 

[Manuel Diego]

"the probe will actually fly through the sun’s outer atmosphere (the cornea)"

Could it be the Corona?

 

[Uncle Al]

So have they actually named it? I'm entering my suggestion now for "Icarus" , you know, just it case it falls in and burns up!

 

[cliffordcooley]

I'm betting it will burn up before it gets half way to the sun.

 

[ChrisH1]

They should go at night time, otherwise it could be, like, you know, rilly rilly hot!

 

[cliffordcooley]

They should go at night time, otherwise it could be, like, you know, rilly rilly hot!

I'm questioning whether this is a joke or a blonde moment. I'm banking on it being a joke, but it rilly rilly is hard to tell.

 

[tipstir]

So they have new tech to get this probe to the sun closer than ever before. So when can we all have this new tech as well so we can wear higher temp gloves and won't burn up our hands working on extreme hot engines or getting the turkey out of the oven!