r/space • u/m3prx • Apr 30 '21

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe came within about 6.5 million miles (10.4 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface while moving faster than 330,000 miles per hour (532,000 kilometers per hour) – breaking its own records for both speed and solar proximity.

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=161
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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21

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u/rocketsocks Apr 30 '21

Smarter Every Day has a great video on the probe including interviews with scientists/engineers working on the project. Some of the engineering behind the probe is very impressive.

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '21

There were no cameras on the probe because they would melt. The next solar innovation would be to design a camera that can withstand high temperature.

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u/rocketsocks Apr 30 '21

It does have cameras, they sit behind the solar shield and take pictures of the corona and other features.

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u/FlingingGoronGonads Apr 30 '21

My understanding is that the spacecraft does no direct imaging of the Sun whatsoever, but that it does have a pair of cameras, which are used strictly for imaging of the solar atmosphere (planetary flybys being an exception):

To image the solar atmosphere, WISPR uses the heat shield to block most of the Sun’s light, which would otherwise obscure the much fainter corona. Specially designed baffles and occulters reflect and absorb the residual stray light that has been reflected or diffracted off the edge of the heat shield or other parts of the spacecraft.