![]() The shield is coated in a reflective alumina layer - as white as we can make it - to absorb as little solar radiation as possible.It has a Sun-facing solar shield: 2.3 meters in diameter and 11.4 cm thick, made of a carbon-carbon composite, and designed to withstand temperatures of 1370 ☌ (2,500 ☏).To survive that, the following interventions were taken in the spacecraft’s design. At its closest, the Parker Solar Probe will experience radiation of 650 kilowatts per square meter, or more than 400 times the intensity we experience at our current location. Here at our current orbital distance from the Sun, solar radiation gives us 1.5 kilowatts of power per square meter: that’s how much strikes the top of Earth’s atmosphere. ( Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman) Why hasn’t the Sun’s heat destroyed it?Ī special, one-of-a-kind heat shield needed to be developed to protect the Parker Solar Probe. If the heat shield fails, the entire probe will fail within seconds. The heat shield for the Parker Solar Probe, visible as the topmost structure here with a white alumina coating on the outer surface, is absolutely necessary for protecting the vital instruments inside from the otherwise catastrophic heat from the Sun. But has it really “touched the Sun” or “entered the Sun’s atmosphere,” and if so, what does that actually mean? Let’s dive into the science to find out. What the Parker Solar Probe has done, and is continuing to do, is nothing short of remarkable. Overcoming the dual difficulties posed by the Sun’s harsh environment and the necessity of shedding almost all of the angular momentum one possesses simply by existing on Earth, the Parker Solar Probe has now shattered the previous record, passing within 7.87 million km (4.89 million miles) of the Sun: so close that reports are claiming that the probe “ touched the Sun,” in a callback to Icarus from Greek mythology. In August 2018, however, the scientists behind NASA’s Parker Solar Probe ventured to break that record, coming far closer to the Sun that ever before. In 1976, the Helios 2 spacecraft came within 43 million km (27 million miles) of the Sun: less than a third of the Earth-Sun distance and a slight amount to the interior of Mercury’s orbit, marking a record that stood for more than 40 years. The Sun - our planet’s primary source of heat, energy, and light - has been significantly out of reach for all of human history.
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