NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has made history by achieving the closest approach to the Sun ever recorded by a human-made object, the agency announced on Friday. The spacecraft completed its flyby on December 24, coming within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface, a region known as the corona. This mission aims to provide vital insights into the solar environment by studying the heating mechanisms of the corona, identifying the origin of the solar wind, and exploring how energetic particles are propelled to near-light speeds.
The operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a signal from the probe shortly before midnight on Thursday, confirming that the probe was safe and functioning normally. Detailed telemetry data about the probe’s status is expected to be transmitted on January 1.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 and has used gravitational assists from Venus to edge ever closer to the Sun. Traveling at speeds up to 430,000 mph, the spacecraft has endured temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit as part of its unprecedented journey.
As the mission continues, NASA plans to conduct more flybys, aiming to capture distinctive solar phenomena. Dr. Joseph Westlake, NASA’s heliophysics director, emphasized the groundbreaking nature of the mission, highlighting the probe’s contribution to rewriting existing knowledge about the Sun. This feat demonstrates the remarkable capability of modern technology to deepen our understanding of our solar system’s central star.
