LIVE: NASA Scientist on Parker Solar Probe’s incredible journey
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — You may think that you have a long way to travel for Christmas, but it doesn’t match this incredible journey.
On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make it’s closest pass by the Sun, coming within 3.8 million miles of the surface. That’s closer than any man-made object has ever come to our star.
The probe is traveling at over 430,000 mph, breaking another record as the fast moving man-made object, in order to make it’s journey that scientists are hoping will shed new light on the center of our solar system.
“We’re still learning more and more. And passing through this region of the sun’s outer atmosphere, we’re really hoping to learn more about how that region gets so hot, how particles are accelerated to nearly half the speed of light, and really probing the origins of the solar wind.”
On the journey, the Parker Solar Probe will experience temperatures over one million degrees Fahrenheit, but the heat shields will keep the probe at room temperature through the journey.
