NASA: Spacecraft 'Touches' Sun
2021-12-19
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1The American space agency NASA says a spacecraft has entered the sun's outermost atmosphere for the first time.
2The Parker Solar Probe traveled through the solar atmosphere's outer edge - known as the corona - in April, scientists announced this week.
3They said it took them a few months to examine data from the spacecraft and to confirm the result.
4Unlike Earth, the sun does not have a solid surface.
5Instead, it is a superheated ball of material held together by gravity and magnetic forces.
6Some solar material escapes and is released into space in what is known as the solar wind.
7The solar wind is the flow of charged particles, known as plasma, released from the corona into space.
8The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 with a main goal of studying the solar wind.
9Scientists say being able to study the solar wind and the corona close up can help them better understand how solar activity influences Earth.
10NASA has described the spacecraft's entry into the outermost atmosphere as successfully "touching" the sun.
11Nour Raouafi is the project scientist on the mission.
12He is with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.
13Raouafi called the finding "fascinatingly exciting."
14The spacecraft is now able to sense conditions in the magnetically-influenced corona for the very first time, Raouafi said.
15He added that the evidence used to confirm the findings included data on magnetic fields and the solar wind, as well as images.
16"We can actually see the spacecraft flying through coronal structures that can be observed during a total solar eclipse," Raouafi said.
17Scientists announced the findings during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
18Results were also published by the American Physical Society.
19The scientists reported Parker was about 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it crossed the boundary between the solar atmosphere and the solar wind.
20They said the spacecraft was able to go in and out of the corona at least three times.
21The Parker team said early data also suggested the spacecraft may have entered the corona during its ninth close pass in August.
22But further study is needed to make a confirmation.
23The scientists said Parker made its 10th close pass last month.
24The spacecraft is expected to keep getting closer to the sun and diving deeper into the corona until its final orbit, planned for 2025.
25I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The American space agency NASA says a spacecraft has entered the sun's outermost atmosphere for the first time. 2The Parker Solar Probe traveled through the solar atmosphere's outer edge - known as the corona - in April, scientists announced this week. They said it took them a few months to examine data from the spacecraft and to confirm the result. 3Unlike Earth, the sun does not have a solid surface. Instead, it is a superheated ball of material held together by gravity and magnetic forces. 4Some solar material escapes and is released into space in what is known as the solar wind. The solar wind is the flow of charged particles, known as plasma, released from the corona into space. 5The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 with a main goal of studying the solar wind. Scientists say being able to study the solar wind and the corona close up can help them better understand how solar activity influences Earth. 6NASA has described the spacecraft's entry into the outermost atmosphere as successfully "touching" the sun. 7Nour Raouafi is the project scientist on the mission. He is with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. Raouafi called the finding "fascinatingly exciting." 8The spacecraft is now able to sense conditions in the magnetically-influenced corona for the very first time, Raouafi said. 9He added that the evidence used to confirm the findings included data on magnetic fields and the solar wind, as well as images. "We can actually see the spacecraft flying through coronal structures that can be observed during a total solar eclipse," Raouafi said. 10Scientists announced the findings during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Results were also published by the American Physical Society. 11The scientists reported Parker was about 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it crossed the boundary between the solar atmosphere and the solar wind. They said the spacecraft was able to go in and out of the corona at least three times. 12The Parker team said early data also suggested the spacecraft may have entered the corona during its ninth close pass in August. But further study is needed to make a confirmation. The scientists said Parker made its 10th close pass last month. 13The spacecraft is expected to keep getting closer to the sun and diving deeper into the corona until its final orbit, planned for 2025. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15The Associated Press and NASA reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 16We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 17___________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19fascinating - adj. extremely interesting 20eclipse - n. a situation in which the sun is covered by the moon, or the moon is covered by the Earth's shadow