There’s a space ship heading into the Sun! Called the Parker probe, it has lots of heat shields, heaps of technology and maybe a few prawns for the BBQ which will cook without gas. Unlike Mars, there’s no plans for people to live on the Sun … hotter than a Nun at a Bishop’s picnic! But the probe will skim around the sun, getting ever closer, and will eventually burn up. The past generations who worshipped the Sun should be impressed.
See the full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46547588
The phenomenal picture is from: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46547588
Why do this? Well the first answer is “Why not? – human endeavour and discovery is alive and well”. The second is because the Sun gets up to a few million degrees. Knowing how it generates this heat, what is happening around the fringes provides essential knowledge because we are so dependent on the Sun for life.
Crazy facts:
- It’s hot – a few million degrees
- The space probe is moving now at 375,000 km/h
- Fastest speed will be 190 km/s, i.e. Sydney to Melbourne in 4 seconds
- Photos are unprecedented
- Instruments are measuring phenomenal stuff for the first time
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