Washington [US], December 25: NASA spacecraft was attempting to make history on Tuesday with the closest-ever approach to the Sun.
Moving at speeds of almost 700,000 kilometres per hour and enduring temperatures of up to 982 degrees Celsius, NASA's Parker Solar Probe was on a mission to "touch" the Sun to help scientists better understand the star, according to the space agency's website.
On Christmas Eve, the probe would pass by the Sun within a record-breaking 3.6 million miles above its surface.
In a video on X, NASA official Nicky Fox explained that the mission will help discover what drives solar activity and why the sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona, is hotter than its surface.
She said: "By flying extremely close to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe can directly measure the solar wind near the source, and that will help us understand the origins of the solar wind and those intense bursts of energy that come from our Sun.
"These insights are crucial for understanding what drives solar activity, which can affect technology on Earth, from satellites to power grids and even astronauts in space.
"By getting closer to the Sun than ever before, Parker Solar Probe will reveal the secrets about our star that can help protect our technology and support our future exploration." During the approach, the spacecraft will be out of contact with the Earth because of constraints on signal transmission while it is in close proximity to the Sun, meaning it will not be able to send a signal back to its operators until December 27 indicating its condition after the flyby.
Since the spacecraft launched in 2018, it has circled gradually closer to the sun - flying past Venus in order to use the planet's gravity to move it into a tighter orbit.
When it first passed into the Sun's atmosphere in 2021, the probe made unexpected discoveries about the boundary of the corona.
At the end of next January, scientists expect the spacecraft to begin to send back the data it collected on the Christmas Eve flyby. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
