Interplanetary station for the study of the Sun Parker became the first spacecraft in history that managed to "touch" the Sun. This was announced by representatives of NASA.
"NASA's Parker Solar probe flew through the upper layers of the Sun's atmosphere, its corona, and collected data on solar energy particles and its magnetic fields," the agency's representatives explained.
In the future, Parker will repeat such maneuvers to collect new data. Parker is equipped with equipment for studying magnetic fields, plasma and particles of solar energy. A heat shield made of carbon fiber protects it from high temperatures up to 1370 degrees.
The station will orbit the star and approach the surface at a distance of about 3,83 million miles. The next flight is expected in January 2022.
The duration of the mission will be about 7 years, and the device itself will fly by the Sun 24 times.
Note that the data will help meteorologists more accurately predict changes in space weather that could affect life on Earth.
