NASA confirms Parker Solar Probe safe after surviving closest-ever approach to Sun
NASA's Parker Solar Probe safely flew by the Sun on December 24, 2024, coming within 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface and withstanding extreme temperatures and radiation.
FollowMaryland: NASA has put concerns about the Parker Solar Probe's safety to rest, confirming that the spacecraft, which holds the record for the closest-ever flyby of the Sun, is safe. The probe successfully passed through the Sun's outermost layer, the corona, on December 24, 2024, allaying anxieties in the scientific community.
Launched from Earth on August 12, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe traveled at an incredible speed of 692,000 kilometers per hour, coming within 3.8 million miles (about 6.1 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface. This achievement made it the closest human-made object to the Sun. Despite facing extreme conditions, including temperatures of up to 1,800F (980C) in the Sun's corona, the probe withstood the intense heat and radiation.
"This close-up study of the Sun allows Parker Solar Probe to take measurements that help scientists better understand how material in this region gets heated to millions of degrees, trace the origin of the solar wind (a continuous flow of material escaping the Sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed," the space agency said.
After its historic flight, the Parker Solar Probe successfully transmitted a signal back to Earth, which was received at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. NASA anticipates receiving more detailed data from the probe on January 1, 2025.
The Parker Solar Probe is designed to observe the Sun's corona—the outermost and hottest part of its atmosphere. Weighing 685 kilograms, the spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and aims to uncover the Sun's mysteries, including the origins of solar winds.
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