The Sun is gearing up for its Solar Maximum sometime in the next year, likely next summer. However, back in 1974, just a few years after the first Moon landing, NASA was gearing up to send a probe to the Sun, humankind’s first such mission.
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00:00The Sun is gearing up for its solar maximum sometime in the next year, likely next summer.
00:08That's all part of its 11-year solar cycle, an aspect of our system's central star we're
00:13still trying to figure out.
00:14However, back in 1974, just a few years after the first moon landing, NASA was gearing up
00:19to send a probe to the Sun, humankind's first such mission.
00:23The Helios mission taught astronomers a lot about the Sun, including how solar winds develop
00:28and eject from its surface.
00:30It also helped researchers better understand its magnetic field, which flips every 11 years
00:34as part of its cycle.
00:36And it helped inform many of the decisions that went into the development of the Parker
00:39Solar Probe mission, one that has been going since 2018.
00:43The Helios mission only traveled within 28 million miles of the Sun.
00:47Meanwhile, the Parker probe has gone closer than any other object made by humans, coming
00:51within just 5 million miles.
00:54At Helios' distance, it experienced temperatures of around 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:58Meanwhile, Parker has endured those upwards of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:03But it's not done yet.
01:04The Parker probe is still doing its thing, with much of its scientific way paved by Helios.