NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has sent its first detailed update after becoming the closest-ever human-made object to the sun, sending telemetry data back to Earth that confirms its systems and science instruments are functioning normally. The spacecraft successfully executed commands programmed into its flight computers and collected valuable data about our star as it approached within 3.8 million miles of the sun’s surface.
The latest transmission from mission control at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland indicates that all systems and instrument operations are healthy, with Michael Buckley describing the spacecraft as “remarkable.” The telemetry data also confirms the spacecraft made observations that no one has been able to make before, providing fresh insights into a region of space that humanity has never explored.
The Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the sun marked a historic moment in space exploration, with the spacecraft traveling at 430,000 miles per hour and surviving temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists hope that the data collected will help them better understand longstanding mysteries about our sun, such as why its outer atmosphere gets hundreds of times hotter as it stretches from the sun’s surface.
The probe is scheduled for two more flybys in 2025, with the next one planned for March 22 and the final one on June 19. As NASA awaits the transmission of science data later this month, when the spacecraft’s powerful antenna will be better aligned with Earth, scientists are eagerly anticipating the insights that Parker Solar Probe will bring to our understanding of the sun.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasas-parker-solar-probe-beams-203722378.html