When these storms reach Earth, they can have some serious effects despite our protective magnetic field. The solar storms of 1859, 1882 & 1921 all caused telegraph services to stop working, initiating fires and in some cases even delivering fatal shocks to telegraph operators. Likewise, the solar storm of 1960 caused widespread disruption of radio communication services.

The effects of massive solar storms on Earth would be much more catastrophic in today’s day and age. A 1859 like solar storm occurring in the present day can cause many problems like:

Disrupt major electrical systems on Earth causing worldwide power outages for weeks, months or even years.

Physical damage to our satellites, causing them to malfunction or fail entirely.

Disruption of our communications infrastructure, including GPS satellites.

Subject astronauts to lethal doses of radiation. This is a major concern for future astronauts on the Moon or Mars, where there is little to no shielding from such dangerous storms.

Why we should better understand the Sun

In a society increasingly dependent on technology, it would be foolish to not understand the weather patterns of the Sun, its effects on Earth and setup our infrastructure accordingly. We wouldn’t really be an intelligent species if we ignored the most important object that directly affects the Earth and life on it.

It would also be foolish to not be curious about the nature of the Sun and stars like it, and not just because Earth’s life depends on it. Some of the long-standing questions surrounding the nature of our Sun are:

Why is the Sun’s outer atmosphere (corona) much hotter (millions of degrees Celsius!) than its surface (~6000 degrees)?

What mechanisms generate highly energetic particles that are carried in the solar wind with high velocities?

What is the structure of the magnetic field in the corona? How do these fields behave to make all these dynamics happen?

It is the quest of answering questions like these that makes us human.

Enter Parker Solar Probe — The fastest spacecraft in history

Finding the answers to those questions is why we are launching the Parker Solar Probe towards the Sun.

Update: The Parker Solar Probe was successfully launched on August 12, 2018 onboard the powerful Delta IV Heavy rocket, and was the The Parker Solar Probe was successfully launched on August 12, 2018 onboard the powerful Delta IV Heavy rocket, and was the fastest spacecraft at launch , beating the New Horizons record.

The Parker Solar Probe launch onboard the Delta IV Heavy. Credit: ULA on Flickr

The Parker Solar Probe will use multiple gravity assists from Venus to gradually decrease its orbit around the Sun. In 2024, the Parker Solar Probe will fly closest to the Sun, merely ~6 million km above its surface. That’s about 9 times closer to the Sun than Mercury is!

The Parker Solar Probe trajectory to achieve its closest pass to the Sun. Credit: JHUAPL

At this closest approach to the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe will be the fastest spacecraft ever, no matter how you measure it. At its peak, the probe will go as fast as 700,000 km/hr, which is insane to even think about. New York to Tokyo in under a minute, Earth to the Moon in half an hour, that’s how fast NASA’s Parker Solar Probe can go.

Facing the Sun’s intense heat and radiation

Being so close to the Sun means facing its intense heat and radiation. In fact, the spacecraft will fly into the corona where the temperatures are of the order of a million degrees Celsius. However, since the corona has a very low density, most of the heat that the spacecraft faces will be from direct sunlight only, which, at ~1400 degrees Celsius, is still burning hot.

Apparent size of the Sun as seen to the Parker Solar Probe (left) vs. the Sun as seen on Earth (right). Credit: Maringaense on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

To protect the spacecraft from the intense heat, a special reinforced carbon-carbon composite will be used as a shield, like the ones on the nose of the Space Shuttle. The 4.5" thick heat shield will keep the spacecraft’s scientific instruments at a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius at which they can operate normally. The shield will also help the spacecraft instruments withstand the crazy radiation levels, which is ~500 times more than here on Earth.

Stellar Science

With such high quality engineering making it possible for the spacecraft to operate in the Sun’s corona, the science instruments onboard are up for some cool tasks (pun totally intended).