Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe Has Survived The Closest-ever Sun Flyby

NASA sent its Parker Solar Probe conscionable 3.8 cardinal miles from nan aboveground of nan Sun — and it survived. The probe transmitted a awesome backmost to Earth connected nan nighttime of December 26th, “indicating it’s successful bully wellness and operating normally,” according to NASA.

The ngo marks nan closest nan Parker Solar Probe — aliases immoderate human-man entity astatine each — has ever gotten to nan Sun. The probe group disconnected connected its ngo connected December 20th, pinch nan closest onslaught occurring connected December 24th arsenic it flew 430,000 miles per hr past nan prima surface. Mission operations were retired of relationship pinch nan probe during this time.

Now that NASA has confirmation of nan mission’s success, it expects nan Parker Solar Probe to nonstop “detailed telemetry accusation connected its status” connected January 1st. The adjacent flyby is expected to thief scientists get a amended knowing of prima wind, nan Sun’s heat, and really “energetic particles are accelerated to adjacent ray speed.”

The Parker Solar Probe was first launched by NASA and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory successful 2018. It’s designed to why study nan corona — nan ambiance surrounding nan sun — gets truthful hot. To past these adjacent encounters, nan Parker Solar Probe is equipped pinch a Sun-facing powerfulness shield that reaches astir 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, while nan probe itself remains conscionable 85 degrees Fahrenheit.