NASA announced that its Parker Solar Probe is “safe” and functioning normally after achieving the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object.
The spacecraft passed just 6.1 million km from the solar surface on December 24, penetrating the sun’s outer atmosphere known as the corona, as part of a mission to enhance our understanding of Earth’s nearest star.
The agency reported that the operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a signal, specifically a beacon tone, from the probe just before midnight last night.
The spacecraft is anticipated to transmit detailed telemetry data regarding its status on January 1, NASA noted.
“This close-up examination of the Sun enables the Parker Solar Probe to gather measurements that assist scientists in comprehending how material in this area is heated to millions of degrees, track the origin of the solar wind (a steady flow of material escaping from the Sun), and uncover how high-energy particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light,” the agency continued.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 and has been steadily orbiting closer to the sun, utilizing flybys of Venus to gain gravitational assistance for a tighter orbit around the Sun.
