NASA's Parker Solar Probe Is Ready To Touch The Sun Once Again: NASA's Parker Solar Probe is preparing to touch the Sun again in late 2024. In this expected encounter, the spacecraft will rapidly pass through the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.
Just as after landing on the moon, scientists gained important information about its origin and geological history. Similarly, touching or carefully examining the components that make up the sun is important for understanding the impact our host planet has on the entire solar system.
In December 2021, NASA announced the probe's first pass through the sun's corona. This historic achievement marked a breakthrough in solar science, as the probe collected important data on charged particles and the magnetic field during its passage through the corona.
According to sources, the spacecraft is expected to pass through the extremely dense atmosphere around the Sun in 2024 at a speed of 195 kilometers per second, or 700,064 kilometers per hour.
The spacecraft will come closer to the sun than Mercury, reaching a distance of up to 6.2 million kilometers from the sun on this journey. The sun's powerful gravitational pull will help the probe reach this speed.
The probe was launched in 2018 to get a closer look at the sun. Built for $1.5 billion, the spacecraft is covered with a four-inch-thick protective layer of carbon that can withstand extreme temperatures.