Smart to go in winter, the sun will be colder.
“It’s out of communication for several days during this burning hot fly-by and scientists will be waiting for a signal, expected on 27 December, to see if it has survived.”
Just do the flyby at night. Problem solved! :^)
Perhaps they should have called it ‘The Icarus’.
I suspect they will experience heat; lots and lots of heat. Hell, I live in Texas and that's close enough to the sun for me.
AOC should have told them to land at night, when the sun is much, much cooler.
The Parker Solar Probe has been performing gravity assist maneuvers, and is up to, about, 400,000mph. It has been getting closer and closer to our Sun. When we build them right, we sure build them right. The two solar-powered Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity were ‘designed’ to last 3 months. One of them lasted just a tad longer, 13 years. There are now two SUV-size rovers on Mars. One has been exploring for over 10 years. Both have nuclear instead of solar power. Their wheels will probably wear out before the power runs out. A few years ago, the New Horizons probe traveled close to Pluto, and provided amazing photos and years of data. New Horizons was then able to examine stuff out past Pluto. The Europa Clipper is on its way to the Jupiter system.
With the next four years of the President Trump Administration, look forward to much more.
you don’t experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually go visit it
What do you really expect to find out except that its hot?
Its not like a trip to Rome to experience the culture...
I am of 2 minds when it comes to spending these millions for danged little gain. There’s the “oh wow...thats coo;” me and the “You remember you have 2 astronauts stuck somewhere, right?” me.
WOW what a goal!!!
What incredibly STUPID maniac is going to volunteer for THAT assignment?
At night it’s called the moon.
Hopefully we can start helium mining soon.
Oh great. Now trump is going to make the sun the 53rd state
“The probe will have to endure temperatures of 1,400C [2550F] and radiation that could frazzle the onboard electronics.
It is protected by a 11.5cm (4.5 inches) thick carbon-composite shield but the spacecraft’s tactic is to get in and out fast.”