NASA's Parker Solar Probe heads to 'touch the sun' again during next flyby on June 2

The Parker Solar Probe, which became the first man-made object to make the closest approach to the sun in December, is heading for its next flyby. According to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), which helped NASA in developing the probe, the flyby will occur on June 2 at 4:20 am (IST). Interestingly, the Parker probe is orbiting the sun 14 times closer than Mercury and will fly at a speed of 5,86,860 kilometres per hour during its next approach. 

What to expect from the next solar flyby?

During the next flyby, which would be number 12, breaking records of its cruising speed will not be the probe's prime objective. However, the scientists will stick to the soul of the mission, gathering data about the sun's corona or atmosphere which is much hotter than the solar surface. Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist from APL asserted that the spacecraft has indeed helped scientists make breakthrough discoveries in a region of the solar system that has never been explored before. 

"The Parker Solar Probe mission is not only reshaping the landscape of solar and heliophysics research before our eyes, but it is enticing us to pursue challenging ideas that, just a few years ago, we considered out of reach", Raouafi said in a statement.

The probe first entered the solar atmosphere on April 28, 2021, and made the first-ever crossing of what’s known as the Alfvén critical surface of the sun. APL says that this is the boundary where solar material anchored to the Sun first escapes and becomes the solar wind and no one knew what this boundary looked like before Parker's entry. "Sampling the solar wind below the Alfvén critical boundary is essential to understanding the heating and acceleration of the solar wind,” said Justin Kasper, involved in sampling the sun's atmosphere. "If these early results are any indication, some incredible discoveries await us as Parker Solar Probe flies deeper into the solar atmosphere".