The Daily Star Ireland
NASA announced that its Parker Solar Probe is “safe” and functioning properly after completing the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object. On December 24, the spacecraft came within just 6.1 million kilometers of the Sun’s surface, entering its outer atmosphere known as the corona. This mission aims to provide scientists with valuable insights into Earth’s nearest star.
The operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a signal, called a beacon tone, from the probe shortly before midnight. NASA expects the spacecraft to transmit detailed telemetry data about its status on January 1.
Traveling at speeds up to 692,000 kilometers per hour, the probe withstood temperatures reaching 982 degrees Celsius. This proximity allows the Parker Solar Probe to gather data that helps scientists understand how the corona heats up to millions of degrees, trace the origins of the solar wind—a continuous stream of material flowing from the Sun—and learn how energetic particles accelerate to near light speed.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has been gradually spiraling closer to the Sun, using flybys of Venus to adjust its orbit.
