The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to make history as the fastest object ever built will make the closest approach to the Sun today.
According to CNN, the Parker Probe on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, will get closest to the sun, coming within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometres) of the solar surface.
Dr. Nicola Fox, head of science at NASA, said, “For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don’t experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually go visit it. And so we can’t really experience the atmosphere of our star unless we fly through it.”
As per NASA, the uncrewed spacecraft will fly at the speed of 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometres per hour), making it the fastest human-made object in history. The speed of the aircraft is fast enough to reach Tokyo from Washington, DC, within a minute.
It is expected that the spacecraft will reach a temperature of 1,400C.
Furthermore, the scientist on the mission would not have any idea whether the craft has survived the intense heat or not until it sends a signal back to Earth on December 27, 2024.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018. During the six-year mission it has collected data that has provided insight into the sun’s greatest mysteries, but it will get closest to the sun for the first time on Christmas Eve at 6:53 a.m. ET.
