The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, is designed to get as close to the Sun as possible by the end of 2024. It can then provide valuable information about the composition and behavior of the corona and solar winds.
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This is the first time that a terrestrial probe has traveled so far into space: by the end of the year, the Parker probe will actually approach just over 6 million kilometers from the sun's surface. At this point in its mission, the probe will be moving around the star at a speed of about 200 kilometers per second (or more than 700,000 km/h). Thanks to the numerous scientific instruments it carries, it will then be ideally positioned to collect new information about the solar corona. These will be able to measure the temperature, the magnetic field, the composition of the particles and their movements in the solar corona.
The idea is to understand why this corona can be up to 300 times hotter than the Sun's surface, with extreme temperatures reaching a million degrees Celsius. It will also be about understanding the formation and acceleration of solar wind particles. Ultimately, the entire behavior of the Sun and its impact on the entire solar system could be explained. This information will then help scientists understand how the solar wind is generated and how it evolves as it moves away from the Sun.
In 2025, Parker will attempt to get as close to the sun as possible, where her mission will end. Spectacular as it is critically important, it will have helped scientists improve their understanding of the Sun by studying all the phenomena surrounding it.
Note that the European Space Agency (ESA) recently sent its own probe to also take measurements as close to the Sun as possible. We definitely haven't learned everything about the heart of our solar system yet.