The events of 1956. A young professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago sent a paper to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
From the corona that is outside the surface of the sun, plasma waves are rapidly spreading around. This issue is discussed in that research paper. The burning surface of the sun that we see is called the photosphere. The temperature in this part is about 5 and a half thousand degrees Celsius. The temperature at the core of the Sun where the nuclear fusion takes place is much higher than that of the photosphere about 15 million degrees. As the plasma concentrates outward from the center, so does the temperature. The problem is that the corona outside the photosphere, where the temperature is supposed to be lower, is increasing exponentially and the solar plasma from the corona is spreading to the solar system at supersonic speeds (faster than the speed of sound). The young professor named the matter 'Solar Wind'. His theoretical calculations about the corona and the sun's magnetic field seemed so strange that two reviewers rejected the paper. The then editor of The Astrophysical Journal was the famous astrophysicist Subramanian Chandrasekhar. He said that before writing such a paper, the writer should have gone to the library and read at least a little about it. Because the whole thing seems like 'nonsense'! Sixty years after the incident, the spacecraft that NASA is sending to the sun is named after the author of the study. The young professor's name was Eugene Parker.
It is true that Chandrasekhar expressed doubts about the research paper, but he published it ignoring the opinion of the reviewers. He had his own experience of how criticism of an influential scientist might feel to a young researcher. At a scientific conference in 1935, Sir Arthur Eddington publicly criticized Chandrashekhar's work on white dwarf and electron degenerative pressure, which caused him great pain. However, after Eugene Parker, Corona has long studied the sun's magnetic field, solar wind, and high-energy particles from the sun. In honor of his work, NASA for the first time named a spacecraft after a living person. Named the Parker Solar Probe, the spacecraft will carry out various scientific experiments from the Sun. The spacecraft was launched on August 12 by a Delta Four rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This Parker probe will change the way we have known this nearest star for so long.
How it started
This is not the first time that spacecraft have been sent to observe the sun. Earlier in the 1970s, two spacecraft, Helios-A and Helios-B, were sent closer to the sun. Helios-Bir also holds the record for being the closest man-made spacecraft to the Sun and gaining the fastest speed. On April 17, 1986, Helios-B crossed the Sun at a distance of 43.43 million kilometers. This distance is less than the distance to the orbit of Mercury. Helios-B recorded a speed of more than 60 kilometers per second. If all goes well Parker will surely break this record. Parker will travel at a speed of about 200 kilometers per second in front of the sun.
In 1997, NASA launched a project called the Outer Planets Solar Probe. Three quite challenging missions are planned under this project. The spacecraft, called the Europa Orbiter, was supposed to send Jupiter's satellite to Europe in 2003. The purpose of the mission was to determine whether there was liquid water beneath the ice-covered surface of Europe, and to verify the suitability of life there. The second mission was called the Pluto-Kuiper Express. It was supposed to be launched in December 2004. Although the cost was high, Pluto still had the status of a planet. So the idea of sending a spaceship to the far end of the solar system was not bad at all. The third mission was the solar probe. It was scheduled to launch in February 2006. It was said that it would observe the sun from a distance of three solar radii slightly from the surface of the sun, collect information about the corona of the sun and the formation of solar wind. The mission was to use Jupiter's Gravity Assist instead of Mercury. This greatly increased the length of the mission.
These missions were canceled in 2003 as part of NASA's restructuring. The mentioned missions are planned anew. In 2010, the previous Solar Probe mission was brought under a relatively low-cost mission called Solar Probe Plus. This time Mercury's Gravity Assist will be used instead of Jupiter's Gravity Assist. However, it was decided not to send the spacecraft so close to the sun as before. This is because the closer a spacecraft is to the sun, the more modern and expensive technology must be used to protect the spacecraft from heat. Attempts were being made to reduce the cost and move the mission forward. The total cost behind this mission is one and a half billion dollars. The solar probe was named after NASA professor Eugene Parker in May last year. The entire vehicle was designed and built by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.
Later, to quench the thirst of curiosity and know, NASA sent their spacecraft to Mars, the mission is known as "The Seven Minutes of Terror"
Parker's trajectory
The trajectory or trajectory of the Parker Solar Probe required much more momentum during launch. Parker was launched using the Delta Four Heavy Rocket. Eugene Parker was also present when the spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3:30 pm on August 12. You have seen this historical event with your own eyes. Parker's initial mission will last 6 years. In these 8 years, it will orbit the Sun a total of 24 times in an elliptical orbit around the Sun. All this time but its distance from the sun will not be equal. Its orbit will continue to get smaller. It will use Mercury's Gravity Assist to get closer to the Sun. Passing very close to a planet, when a spacecraft increases its speed by using the gravitational force of the planet; Or by changing the direction, that matter is called Gravity Assist. Almost every spacecraft does this to save its own fuel. Parker will use six gravity assists in seven years to change its orbit as it flies past Mercury.
Parker is currently on his way to Mercury. On October 3, it will pass close to Mercury for the first time and enter its elliptical orbit around the Sun for the first time using Mercury's gravity. It will take the spacecraft 150 days to orbit the Sun in this orbit, which is two-thirds of Mercury's orbit. Mercury will orbit the Sun twice, while Parker will orbit the Sun three times at the same time. Parker will be closer to the sun for the first time on November 5 this year. At this time, Parker will be 24.8 million kilometers (8 million km) away from the sun. The last time it passed close to Mercury for the seventh time in 2024, it would reduce its orbit to 88 days using Mercury's gravity. While in this orbit, Parker will pass closest to the Sun. It will pass only 6.17 million kilometers from the surface of the sun, and at that time its speed will be more than 200 kilometers per second. This distance is so small that Parker will be able to directly observe the movement of the solar wind from subsonic to supersonic in this region. As well as high-energy particles, which are just coming out of the sun, they can analyze using their own sensors.
Collection of scientific information
There is a big reason why a spacecraft is being sent so close to the sun. We can also observe the sun if we want from the earth. It can be done from any satellite orbiting the earth. That's what NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is doing. However, there are some limitations in this case. Particles of high energy that come to earth from the sun interact with particles from other sources in space in the middle. In addition, similar particles come from other sources in space. It is better to collect samples from very close to the sun just to analyze the particles coming from the sun. In addition to the Sun's magnetic field, the reasons behind the corona's altitude, the origin and structure of the solar plasma, the reasons for the high velocity of the solar wind — there is no alternative to going too close to the Sun to investigate these things.
One of the great challenges facing mankind is that we cannot go near any other star even if we want to. The sun is the closest star to us. So the sun can play a big role in researching how many other stars in the universe have been formed, evolved, how they are formed, and what the surrounding spheres are made of. The Sun is a main sequence star formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Our Milky Way galaxy contains about 20 billion sun-like stars. If we knew about one Sun, we would know about 10 percent of the stars in our galaxy.
Sophisticated all equipment
The Parker Solar Probe has a number of state-of-the-art scientific instruments for collecting information about the sun. The vehicle has a 4-and-a-half inch thick carbon-carbon composite shield in front of the vehicle to protect it from the scorching heat and radiation of the sun. This shield can withstand temperatures up to about 1,400 degrees Celsius. When Parker gets very close to the sun (about 8 times closer to Helios-B), the shadow of this shield will keep all the scientific instruments behind it at a temperature of only 30 degrees Celsius. The 6-foot-diameter hexagonal shield is quite light, weighing only 26 kg. Since Parker would orbit the sun at high speeds, it was important for the entire vehicle to weigh less. The shield is coated with a white layer of aluminum. As a result, it can reflect most of the sunlight.
The 8-foot-diameter hexagonal shield is quite light, weighing only 27 kg. Since Parker would orbit the sun at high speeds, it was important for the entire vehicle to weigh less. The shield is coated with a white layer of aluminum. As a result, it can reflect most of the sunlight. This is done to keep the temperature of the vehicle low. Solar panels are used to supply power to the solar probe.
Parker has four major research-friendly setups for collecting scientific data.
1. Fields Experiment (FIELDS): These instruments will be used to directly measure electromagnetic waves and fields, pointing flux, absolute plasma density, electron temperature and radio emissions.
2. Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS☉IS): Separation of electrons, protons and heavy ions from high energy (10 kg electron volts to 100 mega electron volts) from the sun by trapping them and their relationship with solar wind and corona formation. Search will be done through this device.
3. Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR): Parker has only one pair of telescopes to take pictures of the solar probe. They will take pictures of the corona and the interior of the solar system. In addition to this, the camera will also take pictures of Parker's movements when they see solar wind, shock or any other significant thing. All other instruments that will collect and analyze the characteristics of the solar system through various experiments. Whisper will complete those analyzes by taking pictures there.
4. Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP): This device will calculate the most abundant elements in the solar system — electrons, protons and helium ions এবং and determine their various properties, such as speed, density, temperature, etc.
Our mark on the sun!
The information that Parker's scientific instruments will initially send us may not make much sense. However, when this information is analyzed, many of our questions about the sun for centuries will be answered. For the next six years, astrophysicists will have their eyes on Parker.
In March of this year, NASA invited the general public to send their names to the sun. About 11 lakh people submitted their names. These names are placed on a memory card and placed under Parker's high gain antenna. Accompanying is a photograph of Eugene Parker, and a copy of that famous 1956 paper. In Greek mythology, Icarus wanted to fly very high. As he flew closer to the sun, his waxy wings melted, and Icarus fell into the sea. People have dreamed like this many times. The dream of getting closer to the sun. Icarus could not, so mankind has stopped! With the advancement of science and the advancement of technology, putting one's hand on the chest of the sun is now within the reach of human beings. When Parker passes through the sun's heated plasma, we can say with a sigh that we humans have been able to write our names on the sun.