{"id":12807,"date":"2024-12-27T18:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T22:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-parker-solar-probe-makes-history-with-closest-pass-to-sun\/"},"modified":"2024-12-27T18:00:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T22:00:12","slug":"nasas-parker-solar-probe-makes-history-with-closest-pass-to-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-parker-solar-probe-makes-history-with-closest-pass-to-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
5 Min Read<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"An<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
An artist\u2019s concept showing Parker Solar Probe.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCredits: <\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA\/APL<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Operations teams have confirmed NASA\u2019s mission to \u201ctouch\u201d the Sun survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024.<\/p>\n

Breaking its previous record by flying just 3.8 million miles above the surface of the Sun, NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe hurtled through the solar atmosphere at a blazing 430,000 miles per hour \u2014 faster than any human-made object has ever moved. A beacon tone received late on Dec. 26 confirmed the spacecraft had made it through the encounter safely and is operating normally.<\/p>\n

This pass, the first of more to come at this distance, allows the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements with the potential to change our understanding of the Sun.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t <\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in\u00a0humanity\u2019s first mission to a star.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Nicky<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Nicky fox<\/p>\n

NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cFlying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in\u00a0humanity\u2019s first mission to a star,\u201d said Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cBy studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>
NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024. Breaking its previous record by flying just 3.8 million miles above the surface of the Sun, the spacecraft hurtled through the solar atmosphere at a blazing 430,000 miles per hour \u2014 faster than any human-made object has ever moved.
Credits: NASA<\/strong><\/p>\n

This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https:\/\/svs.gsfc.nasa.gov\/14741<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Parker Solar Probe has spent the last six years setting up for this moment. Launched in 2018, the spacecraft used seven flybys of Venus to gravitationally direct it ever closer to the Sun. With its last Venus flyby on Nov. 6, 2024, the spacecraft reached its optimal orbit. This oval-shaped orbit brings the spacecraft an ideal distance from the Sun every three months \u2014 close enough to study our Sun\u2019s mysterious processes but not too close to become overwhelmed by the Sun\u2019s heat and damaging radiation. The spacecraft will remain in this orbit for the remainder of its primary mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cParker Solar Probe is braving one of the most extreme environments in space and exceeding all expectations,\u201d said Nour Rawafi, the project scientist for Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which designed, built, and operates the spacecraft from its campus in Laurel, Maryland. \u201cThis mission is ushering a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the Sun\u2019s deepest and most enduring mysteries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close to the Sun, the spacecraft relies on a carbon foam shield to protect it from the extreme heat in the upper solar atmosphere called the corona, which can exceed 1 million degrees Fahrenheit. The shield was designed to reach temperatures of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit \u2014 hot enough to melt steel \u2014 while keeping the instruments behind it shaded at a comfortable room temperature. In the hot but low-density corona, the spacecraft\u2019s shield is expected to warm to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>
\n
The spacecraft\u2019s record close distance of 3.8 million miles may sound far, but on cosmic scales it\u2019s incredibly close. If the solar system was scaled down with the distance between the Sun and Earth the length of a football field, Parker Solar Probe would be just four yards from the end zone \u2014 close enough to pass within the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun known as the corona.<\/div>\n
NASA\/APL<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s monumental to be able to get a spacecraft this close to the Sun,\u201d said John Wirzburger, the Parker Solar Probe\u00a0mission systems engineer at APL. \u201cThis is a challenge the space science community has wanted to tackle since 1958 and had spent decades advancing the technology to make it possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

By flying through the solar corona, Parker Solar Probe can take measurements that help scientists better understand how the region gets so hot, trace the origin of the solar wind (a constant flow of material escaping the Sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to half the speed of light.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data is so important for the science community because it gives us another vantage point,\u201d said Kelly Korreck, a program scientist at NASA Headquarters and heliophysicist who worked on one of the mission\u2019s instruments. \u201cBy getting firsthand accounts of what\u2019s happening in the solar atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe has revolutionized our understanding of the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous passes have already aided scientists\u2019 understanding of the Sun. When the spacecraft first passed into the solar atmosphere<\/a> in 2021, it found the outer boundary of the corona is wrinkled with spikes and valleys, contrary to what was expected. Parker Solar Probe also pinpointed the origin of important zig-zag-shaped structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks, at the visible surface of the Sun \u2014 the photosphere.<\/p>\n

Since that initial pass into the Sun, the spacecraft has been spending more time in the corona, where most of the critical physical processes occur.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Illustration<\/a><\/figure>
\n
This conceptual image shows Parker Solar Probe about to enter the solar corona.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/Ben Smith<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe now understand the solar wind and its acceleration away from the Sun,\u201d said Adam Szabo, the Parker Solar Probe mission scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cThis close approach will give us more data to understand how it\u2019s accelerated closer in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker Solar Probe has also made discoveries across the inner solar system. Observations showed how giant solar explosions called coronal mass ejections vacuum up dust<\/a> as they sweep across the solar system, and other observations revealed unexpected findings about solar energetic particles<\/a>. Flybys of Venus have documented the planet\u2019s natural radio emissions<\/a> from its atmosphere, as well as the first complete image of its orbital dust ring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So far, the spacecraft has only transmitted that it\u2019s safe, but soon it will be in a location that will allow it to downlink the data it collected on this latest solar pass.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t <\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n

The data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Joe<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Joe Westlake<\/p>\n

Heliophysics Division Director, NASA Headquarters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been,\u201d said Joe Westlake, the director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spacecraft\u2019s next planned close solar passes come on March 22, 2025, and June 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

By <\/strong>Mara Johnson-Groh<\/strong><\/a>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Contact: Sarah Frazier<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Share<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n