Parker Solar Probe
- It is a NASA spacecraft designed to study the Sun and its atmosphere.
- It was launched on August 12, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and is currently orbiting the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit that takes it closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft.
- Objectives – To study the structure and dynamics of the Sun’s corona, the Sun’s magnetic field, and the solar wind.
- To achieve this, the probe will make a total of 24 close approaches to the Sun over the course of its mission, getting as close as 3.83 million miles from the Sun’s surface, which is about 7 times closer than any previous spacecraft.
- In December 2021, the Parker Probe reached the atmosphere of the sun. Since then, it’s been looping around the sun, drawing closer each time, and sending back tons of data about everything it encounters.
OSIRIS-REx
- It is a NASA spacecraft mission designed to study the near-Earth asteroid called Bennu.
- The name OSIRIS-REx stands for “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.”
- Goal – To collect a sample weighing at least 2.1 ounces (59.5 grams) from asteroid 101955 Bennu (formerly known as 1999 RQ36) and then bring the sample to Earth.
- The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
- It is the first U.S. spacecraft to collect a sample from an asteroid.
- It was launched on Sept. 8, 2016.
- It reached its asteroid target in 2018 and is bringing a small sample to Earth for study.
- The samples will arrive on Earth in 2023. An extended mission will take the spacecraft into orbit around near-Earth asteroid Apophis in 2029.