NASA's Parker Solar Probe has made history again, achieving the closest-ever approach to the sun on December 24, 2024.
The spacecraft swooped within an astonishing 3.8 million miles of the sun's surface while traveling at a record-breaking 430,000 miles per hour.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Survives Extreme Sun Encounter, Sends Data Back to Earth
On New Year's Day, mission control at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) received telemetry confirming the spacecraft is safe, functioning normally, and successfully gathered data during its flyby, Space said.
This telemetry — a stream of information detailing the probe's status — was transmitted via NASA's Deep Space Network. The signals revealed that the Parker Solar Probe carried out its programmed operations flawlessly.
Its onboard instruments collected groundbreaking observations of the sun, offering insights scientists hope will answer enduring mysteries, such as why the sun's corona is significantly hotter than its surface.
Engineers and scientists celebrated this monumental achievement, emphasizing the spacecraft's resilience under extreme conditions.
Equipped with a specially designed 4.5-inch-thick heat shield, the probe endured temperatures nearing 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit during its close encounter with the sun's blazing corona. This critical technology allowed it to survive and thrive where no other spacecraft has ventured.
The Parker Solar Probe was briefly out of contact during the flyby, a planned blackout period due to its proximity to the sun.
Parker Solar Probe Sends Telemetry After Nearing Sun
On December 26, just before midnight, a beacon tone reached Earth, signaling that the probe had completed its closest approach.
This latest mission milestone is part of the Parker Solar Probe's larger goal: unlocking the sun's secrets. By venturing closer than any human-made object before, the spacecraft provides a unique vantage point for studying the solar atmosphere.
Its data will enhance our understanding of solar winds, the corona's extreme heat, and how solar activity impacts space weather that can affect Earth.
According to CBS News, launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has steadily spiraled closer to the sun using gravity assists from Venus.
It has already rewritten our understanding of heliophysics and promises even greater discoveries in its upcoming flybys in 2025.
NASA officials and scientists are eagerly awaiting the data collected during this historic journey. "The information we gather will redefine how we view the sun," said a mission scientist.
This feat underscores the probe's role as a pioneering tool in humanity's quest to better comprehend the star that sustains life on Earth.
