NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Achieves Record-Breaking Close Encounter with the Sun
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Successfully Completes Closest Solar Approach and Signals Health
After its historic close approach to the Sun, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has confirmed its operational health by transmitting a beacon tone back to Earth. The signal was received by the mission operations team at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, just before midnight EST on Dec. 26.
The spacecraft reached its closest point to the Sun on Dec. 24, skimming just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface at an incredible speed of about 430,000 miles per hour. During this period, communication with the probe was suspended due to its proximity to the Sun. Detailed telemetry data on the spacecraft’s status is expected to arrive on Jan. 1.
This record-breaking solar approach enables Parker Solar Probe to gather unprecedented data, including insights into how material near the Sun heats to millions of degrees, the origins of the solar wind—a continuous flow of charged particles from the Sun—and the mechanisms that accelerate energetic particles to near-light speeds. Previous passes have revealed key insights into the solar wind’s structure and the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
Developed under NASA’s Living With a Star program, the Parker Solar Probe explores aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly influence life and technology on Earth. The Living With a Star program is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and overseen by the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed, built, and operates the spacecraft while managing the mission for NASA.
