NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun
December 27, 2024
Pasadena, Calif. – NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has made history by flying closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before. On December 27, 2024, at 18:02 UTC, the probe passed within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface, breaking the previous record set by the Helios 2 spacecraft in 1976.
The Parker Solar Probe is a robotic spacecraft designed to study the Sun’s corona, the outermost layer of its atmosphere. The corona is heated to millions of degrees, which is hotter than the Sun’s surface, and it is the source of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles that constantly flows outward from the Sun.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in August 2018, and it has been making a series of close passes to the Sun since then. The probe’s closest approach to the Sun was planned for December 2024, and it was a success.
During its closest approach, the Parker Solar Probe was able to collect data on the Sun’s corona and the solar wind. The data will help scientists learn more about the Sun’s atmosphere and how it affects the Earth’s space environment.
The Parker Solar Probe is a major scientific achievement, and it is helping scientists learn more about the Sun than ever before. The probe’s mission is scheduled to continue until 2030, and it is expected to make even closer passes to the Sun in the future.
Additional Information:
- The Parker Solar Probe is named after Eugene Parker, a physicist who first proposed the existence of the solar wind in 1958.
- The probe is powered by a solar array that generates electricity from sunlight.
- The probe is equipped with a heat shield to protect it from the Sun’s intense heat.
- The probe is carrying a suite of scientific instruments to study the Sun’s corona and the solar wind.
- The Parker Solar Probe is the first spacecraft to be launched on a “Parker spiral” trajectory, which will allow it to reach the Sun’s poles.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun
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NASA a new article on 2024-12-27 18:02 titled “NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun”. Please write a detailed article on this news item, including any relevant information. Answers should be in English.
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