Otherday, NASA's Parker Solar Probe was launched and traveling toward the center of the solar system.
It does not go straight to the sun naturally, it will pass by 7 degrees near Venus and reach the point of 3.8 million miles from the surface of the sun. The diameter of the sun, it is just a distance of four minutes. The temperature at that point will be about 1,370 degrees Celsius, but the equipment of the spacecraft will be kept at about 30 degrees Celsius.
Parker's technology protects against cooling and heat.
It was my first time to fly a spacecraft near the sun so far, and it was also my first time to have technology that would make it happen.
According to the press release of Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, the key technology is the heat shield that protects the water cooling system and spacecraft.
It took ten years to develop this heat-resistant shield. Between the two layers of carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite materials that protect the structural characteristics even at high heat, most of them are air, so there is a layer of carbon foam, which is a material that does not transmit much heat.
There is also an outer layer made of aluminum oxide which is a white ceramic material that reflects light, but in order to prevent it from reacting with the carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite material and turning the aluminum oxide into gray, between the two materials, tungsten We are putting layers off.
See the video that Betsy Congdon, a heat shield engineer of the Parker solar probe demonstrates the thermal characteristics of the heat shield.
Parker solar probes fly outside corona, but heat is not transmitted to the spacecraft so much because the particles are thin enough.
The spacecraft was launched successfully, but it will take a while until scientific discoveries are obtained from this mission. It is 2024 that comes closest to the sun. It up to the swing-by through the Venus 7 degrees to adjust the speed, will continue to reduce the continuous orbit.
Once Parker reaches the destination you will find out the mystery about the sun.
