NASA Probe Completes Historic Closest-Ever Approach to Sun

Mar. 15, 2025

Illustration of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun.Photo:NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe flew 3.8 million miles above the sun’s surface at a historic 430,000 miles per hour.

The agency announced the news on Friday, Dec. 27, a day after it received a beacon tone confirming that the spacecraft had safely survived the encounter and continued operating normally.

According to the agency’sblog post, the mission operations team at theJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory(APL) in Laurel, Md., received the signal just before midnight EST on the night of Dec. 26. It is expected to send back detailed telemetry data on its status on Jan. 1.

Conceptual image showing the Parker Solar Probe as it is about to enter the solar corona.NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith

NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith

The probe was launched in 2018 andfirst entered the solar atmosphere in 2021.

Its latest achievement comessix months after the probe completed its 20th close approach to the sun, coming about 4.51 million miles from the solar surface and moving at about 394,736 miles per hour in June.

Results from the latest mission will help scientists get a better understanding of how the material in the solar 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,” according to NASA.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun.NASA GSFC/CIL/Brian Monroe

NASA GSFC/CIL/Brian Monroe

The agency noted that previous missions have helped scientists “pinpoint the origins of structures in the solar wind and map the outer boundary of the sun’s atmosphere.”

“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” Nicky Fox, NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, said of the probe’s latest achievement.

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“By 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,” Fox continued.

source: people.com