Sun
Basic Facts
- •The Sun is the center of our solar system
- •It's a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma
- •Accounts for 99.86% of the solar system’s mass
- •Composed primarily of hydrogen and helium
Exploration
- •No spacecraft can land on the Sun due to its extreme heat
- •NASA's Parker Solar Probe is the closest mission to the Sun
- •Studying the Sun helps understand space weather affecting Earth
- •Solar observations are crucial
Missions History
- •1976: Helios 2 sets the closest solar approach at the time
- •1990: Ulysses spacecraft explores the Sun’s polar regions
- •2004: NASA's STEREO mission observes the Sun in 3D
- •2018: Parker Solar Probe
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