NASA's Parker solar probe is 'safe' after historic closest approach to Sun

History has been created as NASA's Parker Solar Probe achieves the closest approach to the Sun. It passed within 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface to reveal secrets of its outer atmosphere

NASA’s Parker solar probe has created history after it made its closest-ever approach to the Sun, becoming the first man-made object to do so. NASA shared an update about the 'Parker Solar Probe' and stated that the spacecraft is "safe" and operating normally after completing the closest-ever approach to our home star.

 

According to the US space agency, the probe has transmitted a beacon tone back to Earth after its record-breaking closest approach of the Sun, indicating good health of the spacecraft.

Closest encounter with Sun

The Nasa spacecraft ventured close to 3.8 million miles from the Sun's surface on Christmas Eve, December 24. The Parker Solar Probe travelled through the outer atmosphere or corona. The probe aims to reveal some secrets about the Sun’s intense heat and solar wind. The spacecraft is moving at a speed of 430,000 mph and withstood extreme temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

 

According to Nasa, “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.”

 

The detailed telemetry data on the condition of Parker Solar Probe is expected on January 1.

What is the Parker Solar Probe?

Nasa's Parker Solar Probe is a program aiming 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.

 

The Probe was launched in 2018 and it has already swept past the Sun 21 times, getting ever nearer by the Christmas Eve visit is record-breaking, according to BBC.

 

The mission aims to study the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere, an ultrahot region which is known as the corona. Scientists have been trying to figure out why the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere is 100 times hotter than its surface.

 

The Parker Solar Probe is a huge milestone in solar research, this is the first mission of its kind that aims to bring scientists closer than ever to understanding the Sun's complexities and its impact on the solar system.