Parker spacecraft launches for the Sun

It hurtles through space as we speak.

In the wee hours of last Sunday, NASA launched the Parker solar probe. There are several unique aspects to this mission.

First of all, it's quite a technical achievement. The probe is covered in a shielding that will all the machine to orbit continuously in close proximity to the Sun, all while keeping its sensors and inner "guts" at a cool room temperature. What's more, there is a "scoop" that will extend and take samples of the corona, the plasma that makes up the uppermost section of the Sun. Yes, Parker will actually be able to "touch" the Sun. As if all of that were not impressive enough in and of itself, Parker is officially the fastest object ever made by humans, moving at 435,000 mph. That beats the record of Voyager 1 and 2.

A major objective of the Parker probe will be to glean a greater understanding of solar wind, those charged particles the Sun occasionally likes to fling our way. They tend to cause pesky problems with vital facets of our lives, such as communication satellites or even entire power grids if the burst is sufficiently large enough. Knowing more about solar wind will allow us to better predict and prepare for these events so we may weather them with as little disruption as can be. Plus, by knowing more about the Sun, we may then know more about stars in general in terms of exactly how they form, how they operate, and how long they last. We might even get a semi-accurate date on when the Sun is supposed to go nova and destroy the solar system...even though it's several billion years away.

Which means I still need to have my classes prepped for next week.

As a writer, I also see a spiritual dimension to the study. It is no happenstance that several ancient cultures worshipped the Sun. It truly is a giver of life. Even people like me who detest heat and eschew the outdoors require at least a few rays of ultraviolet in order to keep mental equilibrium. All that existences on Earth and even the Earth itself owes its existence to the Sun.

So with that "scoop," might not Parker be touching the face of the creator? 


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