NASA is anxiously awaiting a signal from a spacecraft to explore the sun

This week, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe attempted to get closer to the Sun than any other man-made object. But due to a planned communications blackout, the team behind the mission won’t know whether the daring spacecraft mission has been a success for at least another day.

On Tuesday, the Parker Solar Probe was scheduled to make a close approach An uncomfortably close distance A distance of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from the surface of the Sun, during which time the spacecraft was supposed to be out of contact with Mission Control. according to NASAThe probe is scheduled to send out a beacon on Friday to confirm whether or not it survived its close collision with the sun.

“No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory,” Nick Behnken, Parker Solar Probe mission operations director at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, said in a statement. “We’re excited to hear the spacecraft’s response as it swings back around the sun.”

If successful, Tuesday’s flight will be the first of three meetings over the same distance. During perihelion, the spacecraft will pass the sun at a whopping 430,000 miles per hour, breaking its own record for the fastest man-made object. At this speed, the probe will be able to travel from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia in one second. During its approach, the spacecraft must endure temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (982.2 degrees Celsius), while maintaining internal temperatures of a much cooler 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius). Parker does this using a heat shield several inches thick, which reflects the majority of the sun’s heat.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in August 2018 to observe our host star at an unprecedented distance – close. Since its launch, the spacecraft has been preparing for perihelion, or closest approach, by oscillating closer to the sun on each orbit. The Parker Probe has made 21 close approaches to the Sun, coming within 4.51 million miles (7.26 million km) of the Sun’s surface. In November, the Parker Solar Probe carried out its mission The seventh and final trip to VenusTaking advantage of the planet’s gravity to put the spacecraft on a path toward its closest solar approach.

As the Parker Probe rapidly heads towards the surface of the Sun, it will collect valuable data about the star and how it affects the space environment surrounding it. “This is one example of NASA’s bold mission: doing something no one else has done before to answer ancient questions about our universe,” Eric Posner, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe program scientist, said in a statement. “We can’t wait to receive the first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving science data in the coming weeks.”