NASA’s Parker Solar Probe plans to ‘touch the Sun’ in 2024

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to race past the sun at a godly speed of 195 km/s, or 435,000 mph on December 24, 2024.

Till now, no human-made object has got so close to the surface of the Sun. The probe will be just 6.1 million km, or 3.8 million miles away from the star's boiling surface.

Speaking to BBC News, Parker project scientist Dr Nour Raouafi said, “We are basically almost landing on a star.”

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"This will be a monumental achievement for all humanity. This is equivalent to the Moon landing of 1969," said the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory scientist, while speaking to BBC News.

The probe will get its speed from the immense gravitational pull which it feels as it will move towards the Sun. It will be similar to flying from New York to London in just 30 seconds.

Parker Solar Probe and its unearthly challenges

The Parker Solar Probe of the US Space Agency is one of the most audacious missions to be ever launched. The probe was launched in 2018 and its goal is to make repeated and closer passes of the Sun.

The kind of challenges the probe will face in this mission will be huge. At perihelion, which is the point in the orbit of the probe when it is closest to the star, the temperature on the spacecraft's front will probably reach 1,400ºC.

The strategy of Parker is to get in and out quickly while taking measurements of the solar environment using a suite of instruments which are deployed from behind a thick heat shield.

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The researchers have been hoping that they will get a breakthrough in their knowledge of a few key solar processes. Speaking about the mission, Dr Raouafi said, "This takes on a new dimension, especially now that we're thinking of sending women and men back to the Moon and even setting up a permanent presence on the lunar surface.”

Meanwhile, lead scientist on Parker Dr Nicky Fox, while speaking to BBC News said, "We don't know what we'll find, but we'll be looking for waves in the solar wind associated with the heating. I suspect we'll sense lots of different types of waves which would point to a mix of processes that people have been arguing over for years."

(With inputs from agencies)