Published 19:59 IST, December 14th 2018
NASA's Parker Solar Probe clicks closest-ever picture from inside Sun's atmosphere
NASA's spacecraft named Parker Solar Probe has recently made the closest-ever approach to the sun. Taking it to Twitter on Wednesday, the aeronautics space agency shared an image of the sun’s atmosphere.
NASA's spacecraft named Parker Solar Probe has recently made the closest-ever approach to the sun. Taking it to Twitter on Wednesday, the aeronautics space agency shared an image of the sun’s atmosphere.
In the tweet, NASA wrote, "Parker Solar Probe, is flying closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before, speeding through the corona & collecting never-before-seen data with four cutting-edge science instruments".
NASA's website states the Parker Solar Probe, which was launched on August 12 this year, is named after Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the existence of the solar wind, the Sun's constant outpouring of material, in 1958. This is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft after a living person.
Furtherfore, Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.
In the years ahead, it will gradually get within 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometres) of the surface, its instruments protected from the extreme heat and radiation by a revolutionary new carbon heat shield and another high-tech wizardry, as per Associated P.
Earlier on December 12, NASA's InSight Mars lander shared its first 'selfie' from Mars which sent the social media into a frenzy. Days before the selfie, the Insight Mars Lander captured the vibrations from the breeze on the Red Planet.
NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander provided the first-ever "sounds" of Martian winds on the Red Planet.
Updated 20:43 IST, December 14th 2018