The first investigation of the solar environs with space probes was instigated in 1974 and 1976 respectively when two probes, Helios 1 and Helios 2, were launched successfully.
Helios 1 and Helios 2 developed by Germany in collaboration NASA were launched from the JFK Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 10, 1974, and Jan. 15, 1976, respectively to study Sun’s magnetic field, the solar wind,the relative strength of cosmic rays, and measurements of meteoroid loss from the solar system. Both traveled closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft.
Helios 1 flew within 45 million km (28 million miles) and Helios 2 within 43.4 million km. Equipped with special heat-dispersal systems, the probes were able to withstand extremely high temperatures, which reached an estimated 700 °F or 370 °C.
These probes went into orbit and completed the primary missions successfully by the early 1980's but these probes were active till 1985. Till today these probes are still in the orbit around the Sun and are no longer functional.
Both probes collected important data about the processes that cause the solar wind and the acceleration of the particles that make up the interplanetary medium and cosmic rays. These observations were made over a ten-year period from solar minimum in 1976 to a solar maximum in the early 1980's.
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