WASHINGTON, D.C. – NASA announced on December 27 that its Parker Solar Probe is “safe” and operating normally after making the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object. The spacecraft passed just 6.1 million kilometers from the solar surface on December 24, flying into the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona. This mission aims to help scientists gain a deeper understanding of Earth’s closest star.
The operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a signal, a beacon tone, from the probe just before midnight on December 26, confirming its status. The spacecraft is expected to send detailed telemetry data about its condition on January 1, NASA added.
Traveling at speeds up to 692,000 kilometers per hour, the Parker Solar Probe endured temperatures reaching 982 degrees Celsius. This close-up study of the Sun allows the probe to take measurements that help scientists better understand how material in this region is heated to millions of degrees. It also traces the origin of the solar wind—a continuous flow of material escaping the Sun—and discovers how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has been gradually drawing closer to the Sun, using fly-bys of Venus to gravitationally pull it into a tighter orbit. The spacecraft’s mission represents a monumental step in solar research, providing unprecedented data that will enhance our knowledge of solar dynamics and space weather, ultimately contributing to better predictions and protection of satellites and astronauts in space.