The Parker Solar Probe survived its trip into the sun’s corona. That is so cool. You know what’s also cool? It is traveling at 430,000 miles per hour. It is officially the fastest human made thing ever built. The heat shield can apparently withstand up to 2,500 degrees (Fahrenheit of course) while keeping the insides at room temperature. Like I said, so, so cool.
What also makes this cool is that we’re about 350 years ahead of schedule. There’s a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called “Suspicions”. In it, a Ferengi scientist is testing a new metaphasic shielding that will allow a ship to fly into a star’s corona. It’s amazing how often Star Trek has predicted real scientific breakthroughs.
I don’t really have a lot to say other than that I think this is super cool. It will take months for the scientists to analyze the data. Although, they apparently have already discovered that the corona is wrinkled instead of smooth and made some discoveries about the solar wind. The probe is set to enter the corona again on March 22nd next year. So, so cool.
Parker Solar Probe: Humanity’s Closest Encounter with the Sun
