NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is attempting to get closer to the Sun than ever before

A NASA space probe is attempting to make history with its closest ever approach to the sun.

The Parker Solar Probe plunges into our star’s outer atmosphere and must withstand brutal temperatures and extreme radiation.

Communications will be lost for several days during this scorching flyby, and scientists will wait for a signal, expected on December 27, to see if it survived.

The hope is that the probe could help us better understand how the sun works.

Dr. Nicola Fox, NASA’s head of science, told BBC News: “People have been studying the sun for centuries, but you don’t really experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually visit it.”

“And that’s why we can’t really experience our star’s atmosphere unless we fly through it.”

The Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 on its way to the center of our solar system.

It has already flown past the sun 21 times and is getting closer and closer, but the visit on Christmas Eve is record-breaking.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million km) from the surface of our star.

That might not sound that close, but Nasa’s Nicola Fox puts it into perspective: “We are 93 million miles from the sun. So if I place the sun and the earth one meter apart, the Parker Solar Probe is four centimeters away from the sun – so that’s close.

The probe must withstand temperatures of 1,400 °C and radiation that could damage the onboard electronics.

It is protected by an 11.5 cm (4.5 in) thick carbon composite shield, but the spacecraft’s tactic is to enter and exit quickly.

In fact, it will move faster than any human-made object, reaching a speed of 430,000 miles per hour – the equivalent of flying from London to New York in under 30 seconds.

So why go to all this effort to “touch” the sun?

Scientists hope that as the spacecraft passes through our star’s outer atmosphere – its corona – it will solve a long-standing mystery.

“The corona is really, really hot, and we have no idea why,” explains Dr. Jenifer MIllard, astronomer at Fifth Star Labs.

“The surface of the sun is about 6,000°C or so, but the corona, that thin outer atmosphere that you can see during eclipses, reaches millions of degrees – and that’s further away from the sun. So how does this atmosphere get hotter?”

The mission will also help scientists better understand the solar wind – the constant stream of charged particles erupting from the corona.

When these particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, the sky lights up with dazzling auroras.

But this so-called space weather can also cause problems, crippling power grids, electronics and communications systems.

“Understanding the sun, its activity, space weather and the solar wind is so important to our daily life on Earth,” says Dr. Millard.

NASA scientists will have to wait anxiously over Christmas while the spacecraft is no longer in contact with Earth.

Nicola Fox says once a signal is sent home the team will send her a green heart to let her know the probe is OK.

She admits she’s nervous about the bold attempt, but she has confidence in the probe.

“I’ll worry about the spaceship. But we really designed it to withstand all of these brutal, brutal conditions. It’s a tough, tough little spaceship.”