A NASA spacecraft called the Parker Solar Probe made another daring trip close to the sun on Saturday.
This was the second of three planned passes through the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona. Parker had already flown closer to the sun than any other spacecraft in history during its first pass in December.
The probe came within 6 million kilometres of the sun, speeding through space at around 690,000 kilometres per hour—faster than any other spacecraft made by humans. Because the probe was out of range during the flyby, NASA scientists expect to hear back from it soon.
Parker was launched in 2018 with a big goal: to help scientists learn more about the sun. One mystery they’re trying to solve is why the corona is much hotter than the sun’s surface. The spacecraft also collects information about the solar wind—a powerful stream of particles that constantly flows from the sun.
By flying straight through the corona, Parker gives scientists a front-row seat to study these solar secrets. Two more close encounters with the sun are still planned before the mission ends.
