If no technical issues arise along the way, between July and August the NASA will begin the Parker Solar Probe mission, which over a period of seven years will seek to gather data about the Sun's corona, approaching its surface as never before. However, that is not all. The agency has decided to enable the possibility of sharing our name to be stored on a microchip and sent to the Sun, a symbolic but no less interesting way to travel to our mother star.
Mission details
The Parker Solar Probe mission is part of NASA's Living With a Star program, which aims to explore the deep relationship between Earth and the Sun. The probe will begin its long adventure in late July or mid-August, when it will be launched by a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The mission parameters require that Parker Solar Probe use seven gravitational assists from Venus until developing an elliptical orbit that allows it to enter the lower part of the solar corona. There it will have to track the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind, determine both the structure and dynamics of the plasma and magnetic fields at the sources of the solar wind, and explore the mechanisms that transport and accelerate energetic particles... all at a staggering speed. Available data suggest that Parker Solar Probe will move near the Sun at about 200 kilometers per second, becoming thus the fastest object ever made by humans. It will be protected by a carbon-carbon thermal shield (carbon fiber reinforcement on a graphite matrix) 11.4 centimeters thick. Oh, and one more thing...
Send your name
... you can save your name on it! That's right, NASA has recruited none other than William Shatner to share with the world the news that anyone can register their name, store it on a microchip, and send it on the probe. If you want to be part of this historic journey (even if only digitally inside a piece of silicon), you must fill out a brief form that only asks for first name, last name, and an email address to confirm the process. Once done, you will receive a certificate in PDF format that you can print, which includes your name and registration date.
Would you like to think about it a bit more? Don't worry: There is time until next April 27, although personally I think my name traveling at 200 kilometers per second through the solar corona doesn't sound bad at all. The total cost of the Parker Solar Probe mission amounts to $1.5 billion, and its original duration will be close to seven years (6 years and 321 days, but let's not forget that there can always be extensions).
