https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2024/12/27/nasas-parker-solar-probe-reports-successful-closest-approach-to-sun/

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Reports Successful Closest Approach to Sun

Following its record-breaking closest approach to the Sun, NASA's
Parker Solar Probe has transmitted a beacon tone back to Earth
indicating it's in good health and operating normally.

The mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland received the signal just before
midnight EST, on the night of Dec. 26. The team was out of contact
with the spacecraft during closest approach, which occurred on Dec.
24, with Parker Solar Probe zipping just 3.8 million miles from the
solar surface while moving about 430,000 miles per hour.

The spacecraft is expected to send back detailed telemetry data on
its status on Jan. 1.

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.
Previous close passes have helped scientists pinpoint the origins of
structures in the solar wind and map the outer boundary of the Sun's
atmosphere.

Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA's Living With a Star
program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly
affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by
the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed,
built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

By Michael Buckley

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

 

NASA Media Contact: Sarah Frazier

Author Sarah FrazierPosted on December 27, 2024

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