Astronomers have long debated whether our moon should have a proper name. After all, that’s the way our solar system is. The other moons have their own nicknames, such as Phobos and Deimos, and there are certainly no planets named “planets” or asteroids named “asteroids.” Even worlds near our universe have names, albeit usually boring ones. However, our moon’s namelessness does have a silver lining: it forces us to remember that it is indeed a moon.
But for sunits name makes it easy to forget that it is indeed an incomprehensible scorching star. But this Christmas Eve, we’ll be keenly reminded of the sun’s cosmic nature, thanks to a resilient little spacecraft on a spectacular journey through space: Parker Solar Probe. At 6:40 a.m. ET on December 24, the cone-shaped explorer will fly perilously toward our glowing yellow sun.
Nour Rouafi, project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe mission, told Space.com: “In 1969, we put a man on the moon on Christmas Eve; in 2024, we will hug a star.
On August 12, 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe toward the sun, hoping to unravel a series of long-standing solar mysteries—the most puzzling of which may be that our star’s atmosphere is thicker than its predecessors. The fact that the surface is unusually hot. What’s heating it? This seems very unintuitive, doesn’t it? In the audience on launch day was the late Dr. Eugene N. Parker, who revolutionized our understanding of solar physics before the Solar Probe began its expedition and indeed named Parker. This marks the first appearance of a spacecraft of the same name for liftoff.
Subsequently, on December 14, 2021, the agency announced that the Parker Solar Probe successfully entered the solar atmosphere, or crownabout 6.5 million miles from the star’s surface. This was landmark in itself, but since then, spaceThe spacecraft continues to approach the sun in its 21 orbits, using Venus‘ Gravity propels itself, breaking records left and right at the same time. For example, it officially became the fastest man-made object ever built, reaching a speed of 394,736 miles per hour (635,266 kilometers per hour).
However, on December 24 this year, the Parker Solar Probe will complete its closest approach to the sun yet, coming within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the object’s surface while traveling at 430,000 mph (690,000 km/h). Speed zoom. Previous records will be broken.
“What the Parker Solar Probe will accomplish just before Christmas this year is truly unparalleled,” Rawaffi said. “We’ve been dreaming of this moment for 16 years.”
And, as Rawaffi explains, that’s probably the closest the detector can get.
“Even if technically we could get the spacecraft closer to the sun, we can’t because the heat shield isn’t big enough to protect the spacecraft,” he said. “If you get closer, the heat shield’s shadow cone will become narrower, and parts of the spacecraft may be exposed to direct sunlight – which is not something we want to do.”
in darkness
At first glance, there’s one aspect of Parker Solar Probe’s journey that appears to be causing a stir among mission members: The spacecraft will be off the grid during its main flyby; we won’t be able to contact it.
Its first evidence of life won’t arrive before Dec. 27, when a beacon tone will essentially alert the team that the Parker Solar Probe survived its journey through the sun’s corona and is able to speak. However, the goods (scientific data and images) won’t start pouring in until the new year. John Wirzburger, Parker Solar Probe’s mission systems engineer, doesn’t see this as a major problem. He actually welcomed the silence.
“This is a good time for people to really decompress – take a break – because they know that when they come out the other side, we have to get all the science data and reconfigure the spacecraft,” he said. “So, this encounter is almost like an inherent respite for us.”
The dark period of Parker’s trip was of course partly due to the probe’s specific trajectory—its inability to beam information back to Earth via NASA’s Deep Space Network—but it was also because of the project’s scientific goals.
“Because we are so close to the sun, the sun interferes with our communications,” Wurzberg told Space.com. “But the other thing is, we don’t want our communications to interfere with our scientific collections.”
Still, Lavafi believes Parker Solar Probe’s presence will permeate many scientists’ rooms, even through the aroma of gingerbread and Scotch tape.
“Believe me, everyone has the Parker Solar Probe in their mind and heart and thinks about how this little thing is doing in front of this giant that is our star,” he said. “I mean, for almost 16 years we’ve been shoulder this mission.”
However, these ideas will hopefully echo the Christmas spirit. Like learning to trust a child’s ability to make good decisions as they grow and experience the world, the Parker Solar Probe team’s concerns about sending their robotic explorer so close to the sun have turned into pride over the years.
“In the early days of the mission, whenever we got close to the sun, I think we were very nervous,” Rawaffi said. “But now that we’ve completed our 21st orbit, the system is indeed much better than we thought.”
no fear; no trembling
The most obvious worst-case scenario for the Parker Solar Probe in the coming days may be… “Will it explode?” or “Will it never talk to us again?” However, both Lavoafi and Würzberg Not particularly scared of these results, as they say it’s unlikely to happen, especially given the spacecraft’s grit and tenacity over the past few years.
“I think what hurt me the most was not collecting scientific data through this flight,” Wurzberg said. But he added that the pain would only last for the duration of the next orbit: “It was only three months. Our position is that we will take immediate action to find out what needs to be done for Track 23 to rectify the situation.
In fact, Lavoisy specifically wants the sun to test the Parker Solar Probe’s strength as much as possible. When the spacecraft was launched, our sun was at the beginning of its 11-year solar cycle (called solar minimum, when the sun is least active), but it is currently approaching solar maximum, when the sun is most active .
“My hope is that when Parker Solar Probe gets this close to the sun, the sun will give us a big bang — a really big bang — and let it process it,” he said. “I really hope that the Parker Solar Probe will give us one of the greatest gifts ever.”
As for those gifts? Well, there have been a few investigations over the past few years. For example, on September 5, 2022, it flew straight through A giant coronal mass ejection, you can think of it as a cloud of plasma erupting from the sun. This shows that when one of these events occurs, it does bring a deep clean to the space. The jets appear to sweep away any dust particles in their path, and the mission crew will be watching closely in case such an event is caught on camera again.
“We had other observatories observing the Sun at that time; we had data from them. For example, if there was a big flare or a large coronal mass ejection heading toward Parker Solar Probe, we would know about it,” Rawaffi said. “You can learn about it almost in real time, it’s just that we have to wait to see how Parker Solar Probe handles it.”
When we think about space weather events, it’s important to understand them as a whole. Coronal mass ejections, especially when directed at our planet, can accelerate particles to astonishing speeds. If these particles reached us, they could be extremely dangerous to astronauts in space and pose a threat to our power grids.
Fascinatingly, the Parker Solar Probe is also helping engineers in indirect ways; the entire mission is, in part, pushing the spacecraft to some of its most extreme limits. This means that data on the probe’s flight patterns and dynamics could inform future missions that may be exposed to the intense space environment, as can any mission intended to explore the surrounding area Jupiter or saturn Places with extremely high radiation levels.
“We have to actively cool our solar arrays; we pump deionized water through them to keep them cool,” Wurzberg said. “Could other missions adopt this? Maybe not for survival, but for efficiency.”
Given all this stress, you might also think that the Parker Solar Probe is pretty worn out (and I am), but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Oddly enough, the sun is like a good car wash for spacecraft.
“Basically, we’re taking all the parts out and baking them to remove contaminants and get them nice and clean before launch,” Wurzberg said. “But we’re sending them to the best in the solar system. One of the ovens, close to the sun.”
“We actually believe, especially with the help of the thermal protection system, that the top shield today is actually cleaner than when we launched it,” he added. “We thought the spacecraft might look really nice and have a really nice white TPS [thermal protection system] on top.
Aside from some minor dust damage to one of the instruments, and some micron-sized particles ejected from its body when struck by classic deep space debris, Parker is in excellent health.
“The system behaves basically as if we launched it yesterday,” Rawaffi said. “Well done.”
real star
That our sun is one of billions of stars in the universe is not just a philosophical wonder; It’s also a practical concept for astronomers.
“We are using the sun as a laboratory to study other worlds,” Rawaffi said, emphasizing that Parker Solar Probe’s discoveries could remotely explain the complexities of billions of other stars in the universe. In fact, the team hopes to continue unraveling these intricacies in conjunction with discoveries about the universe from other fields of science over a long period of time.
The probe may have enough fuel to theoretically allow it to continue operating for decades, possibly even a hundred years, as long as it remains in orbit around the sun. According to Wurzberg, the fuel supply is enough to maintain the spacecraft’s momentum, but not enough to allow scientists to alter the spacecraft’s orbit. That means Parker will likely remain a solar explorer, at least as far as we’re concerned.
“It’s not that the spacecraft is going to be ejected and thrown out of the solar system or anything like that, or that we’re spiraling,” Wurzberg said. “So we’re in a final orbit for the foreseeable future. and it will remain on that trajectory for a long time to come.”
“In the 2032 time frame, we may be able to return to Venus,” he speculated. “It’s based on NASA; based on what they want to do – but then the question is, if we can get back to Venus, then what?”
In a sense, Limbo is a great space to be in when you know it has a finish line, because it provides a small sample of reprieve during which your imagination can run wild. Of course, it is the endless imagination of scientists that has brought us to this historic moment.
“When I was growing up as a young scientist and getting involved in space, I heard about at least one or two previous attempts to implement a solar probe that never came to fruition,” Rawaffi said. “It was a sour taste.”
“For me, the dream is to see this mission happen in my lifetime — but for us to be so deeply involved in it and leading it, it’s more than just a dream; we’re dreaming with our eyes wide open.”