Parker Solar Probe flies through Sun's corona at 430,000 mph with revolutionary heat shield technology
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By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process
Fresh out the oven, still warm. Top of the tray.
Summary
NASA's Parker Solar Probe is successfully flying through the Sun's outer atmosphere (corona) at 430,000 mph, protected by a 4.5-inch carbon foam heat shield that maintains room temperature for its instruments while the front face reaches 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The mission, first proposed in 1958, took six decades to become reality because the necessary heat shield material didn't exist until recently. The probe is the fastest human-made object ever and is gathering unprecedented data about the Sun's corona.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThat gap, between a face hot enough to soften steel and a payload bay cool enough to touch, is the central trick of the entire mission.
It is also the reason a probe to the Sun's corona, an idea first proposed in 1958, took sixty years to fly.
The concept was proposed the same year NASA was founded.
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