NASA to Launch Parker Solar Probe Next Year to Measure Sun's Atmosphere

By Vianne Ilagan, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, October 01, 2017

In the summer of next year, NASA is set to launch a probe that will "touch the Sun" and measure its atmosphere as it tries to predict future solar storms. Called the Parker Solar Probe, the device will launch in July 2018 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and will fly straight into the sun's atmosphere.

A few days ago, NASA offered a first look at the new probe, which features a new thermal shield that is capable of enduring up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit of temperature. It was also the first time since its construction started that NASA gave a sneak peek of the device in flight configuration at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, on Wednesday.

According to NASA, the probe will measure the activity of the outer surface of the sun once it reaches an orbit within four million miles of it. It also aims to gather more information about the life of stars in an attempt to help scientists better predict solar flares.

To ensure that the craft will be able to withstand the heat of the sun, NASA has installed a special heat shield on the surface of the spacecraft last Sept. 21, providing it with enough thermal protection system. Made of a 4.5 inch-thick carbon composite, the said shield reportedly has a diameter of 8 feet.

Back in May, NASA formally announced the Parker Solar Probe via a live stream event at the University of Chicago's William Eckhardt Research Centre Auditorium. During the said live stream, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington said they "wanted to take the challenge of going to the worst thermal environment in the solar system - and surviving it."

"We want to measure the environment there and find what the heating processes are that make the corona hot and what processes accelerate the solar wind," he said.