NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its historic Christmas Eve flyby of the sun, setting a new record for human-made objects that have traveled so close to the star. The spacecraft flew within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface at a speed of 430,000 mph (690,000 kph), nearly 10 times closer than Mercury’s orbit around the sun.
Mission control will only know for certain how the spacecraft fared during the flyby after receiving a beacon signal from the probe on December 27. Scientists expect to receive images and scientific data in early January, which will provide valuable insights into the sun’s behavior and its effects on space exploration.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to study the sun’s outermost layer, known as the corona, and accelerate charged particles to near-light speeds. The spacecraft has also captured rare close-ups of passing comets and studied the surface of Venus.
During the flyby, scientists hope to observe solar flares occurring simultaneously due to ramped-up turbulence on the sun’s surface, which can disrupt communication systems and other technology. The probe’s 4.5-inch-thick heat shield is designed to endure temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius), but scientists expect to witness lower temperatures during the flyby.
The successful flyby marks a significant achievement for NASA and its Parker Solar Probe mission, which has been hailed as a technological feat comparable to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasas-parker-solar-probe-completes-historic-christmas-eve-flyby-of-the-sun-but-it-could-take-days-to-know-if-it-survived