NASA announced that the Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its closest flyby to the Sun, setting a new record for a human-made object. The space agency confirmed that the probe is in good condition and operating normally after this daring maneuver. THEThe operations team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received the signal from the probe, a confirmatory signal, just before midnight Thursday. The probe is expected to send detailed telemetry data on its status on January 1.
On December 24th, the probe reached a distance of just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the solar surface, plunging into the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. This mission aims to provide scientists with new information about our nearest star.
Moving at speeds of up to 692,000 km/h (430,000 mph), the probe has endured temperatures of up to 982°C (1,800°F).
NASA stated: “This close study of the Sun allows the Parker Solar Probe to make measurements that help scientists better understand how material in this region is heated to millions of degrees, to trace the origin of the solar wind (a continuous stream of material pouring out of Sun) and to discover how energetic particles are accelerated to almost the speed of light“.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has moved progressively closer to the Sun, using Venus flybys to be gravitationally pulled into a tighter orbit around our star. This series of strategic approaches allowed the probe to reach increasingly shorter distances, culminating in the record just set. The mission continues to provide valuable data for understanding solar phenomena and their influence on the solar system.
