NASA probe makes closest-ever pass by the sun

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: VOA/Agence France-Presse

December 24, 2024 7:25 PM


WASHINGTON — NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 930 degrees Celsius (1,700 degrees Fahrenheit).

Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to deepen scientific understanding of our star and help forecast space-weather events that can affect life on Earth. Tuesday's historic flyby should have occurred at precisely 11:53 Greenwich Mean Time, although mission scientists will have to wait until Friday for confirmation as they lose contact with the craft for several days due to its proximity to the sun.

"Right now, Parker Solar Probe is flying closer to a star than anything has ever been before," at 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) away, NASA official Nicky Fox said in a video on social media Tuesday morning. "It is just a total 'yay, we did it,' moment."

If the distance between Earth and the sun is the equivalent to the length of an American football field, 109.7 meters, the spacecraft should have been about four meters from the end zone at the moment of closest approach — known as perihelion. "This is one example of NASA's bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe," Parker Solar Probe program scientist Arik Posner said in a statement on Monday.

Read more: https://www.voanews.com/a/nasa-probe-makes-closest-ever-pass-by-the-sun/7913023.html

[PJMcK]

1. That's an amazing scientific and engineering accomplishment!

Building such a craft then getting to the Sun is remarkable!

There's a flaw in the article, however. An American football field is not 109.7 meters, it's 100 yards or 91.44 meters.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. Not a big deal if you're writing a news article.

It's a very big deal if you're programming a Mars lander.

https://www.simscale.com/blog/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "There's a flaw in the article, however. An American football field is not 109.7 meters, it's 100 yards or 91.44 meters.

Blame the French!

(AFP/Agence France-Presse)

[NutmegYankee]

6. The 109.7 includes the end zones.

An error made by someone who doesn’t watch 🏈.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Or maybe follows

Canadian football where this can happen -

[PJMcK]

11. Right, you are!

I realized my error after I logged off. Oops. Too much Christmas "cheer," if you know what I mean!

We're going to watch the Ravens/Texans game this afternoon. You?

[NutmegYankee]

13. I'm staying with my mother, who would fit right into a medieval convent.

Not going to be much TV viewing here.

[SpankMe]

17. Mon Dieu! n/t

[BobsYourUncle]

2. Oops!

One hundred yards is approximately 91.44 meters.

Divide by NOT multiply by, 1.094!

[NutmegYankee]

8. 120 yards is the basis for the 109.7 m

The problem is the average American doesn’t count the end zones.

[JohnnyRingo]

4. Fascinating!

I love following cosmic science. Thanx for posting!

[paleotn]

7. Incredible achievement.

A rather warm, spicy neighborhood. And should put to rest Roosevelt E. Roosevelt's question....were you born on the sun? Nope.

&ab_channel=neuro

[AllaN01Bear]

9. this .

thunderbirds epi, sun probe.

[C0RI0LANUS]

12. One of the reasons for closely monitoring the sun are its flares, CME, and EMP.

FTA:

"CHRISTMAS FLARE AND CME (UPDATED): Christmas began with a bang. At 0449 UT on Dec. 25th, active sunspot 3932 produced a strong M4.9-class solar flare. NOAA's GOES-16 satellite recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash above.

Soon after the flare, the USAF reported a Type II solar radio burst. This is a natural type of radio emission caused by shock waves inside CMEs. The drift rate of the Type II radio burst suggests that a CME will soon emerge from the blast site traveling a little faster than 1,000 km/s."

The sun's 11-year cycle:



On 1-2 Sep 1859, a massive solar flare spewed electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth, wreaking havoc on telegraph networks which became known as the "Carrington Event" (and the most intense solar storm in recorded history).


During this 1859 geo-magnetic solar cyclone, people reported "the sky was on fire."


Links:

https://spaceweather.com/

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-cycles/en/

https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event

[yagotme]

14. A simpler solution was available, I don't know why they didn't use it.

Just send the probe at night. Problem solved...

[Aussie105]

15. Or approach from the dark side of the Sun.

I will go away now.

[reACTIONary]

16. A standard Parker Solar Probe quip....

... Another is "It's not a probe, it's a lander!"

[LudwigPastorius]

18. Heat shield keeps the scientific instruments cool.

[BWdem4life]

19. Flying closer to a star than anything from Earth has.

I mean, let's not discount the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe, right?