It’s not a spacecraft, it’s a hero. The sun fires its flares into space. And yet it didn’t change its course, ignoring the Sun’s attacks. It survived an enormous solar flare and became the name of a miracle. In fact, NASA designed this spacecraft to withstand harsh conditions in such an atmosphere. But no one expected this much. Parker turned out to be a fighter. Here are the details…
NASA’s spacecraft Parker continues its mission despite a massive solar flare!
Scientists have recently released rare images of a solar event called a CME, which means the explosion of a mass of super-hot gas (plasma). Let’s not forget the NASA spacecraft that brought us these images. It made great sacrifices to capture these images.
Even though it was caught in the middle of the explosion, it continued its mission. It almost challenged the Sun. “It’s like taking a piece of the sun and launching it into space,” said scientist Mark Miesch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
NASA declared this CME to be one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded. Fortunately, NASA had equipped the spacecraft with a robust heat shield. so it was able to withstand such an intense burst of radiation. It survived and sent us detailed information about the Sun.
It’s a small feat for the spacecraft and a big one for Earth. The Johns Hopkins laboratory explained it this way: “In total, the Parker spacecraft spent about two days observing the CME. It was the first spacecraft to pass through a powerful solar flare close to the Sun.” Thus, he was able to write his name in gold letters in history.
Scientists are evaluating data from NASA’s spacecraft Parker and telescopes to study CMEs and the Sun’s effects. NASA is also warning the world about CMEs. They have potentially devastating effects. CMEs are so powerful that they emit energy that can endanger satellites. Unfortunately, this can disrupt communications and navigation technologies. It could even knock out power grids on Earth. No way, we hear you say. But unfortunately, the world has witnessed such an event before.
In 1989, a notoriously powerful CME left millions without power in Québec, Canada. On March 12, 1989, the CME hit the Earth’s magnetic field. The next morning, the currents found a weakness in Québec’s power grid. In less than 2 minutes, the entire city was without electricity. There was a 12-hour long blackout. The whole city was plunged into darkness.
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