NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully phoned home after surviving its historic close flyby of the sun. The spacecraft flew within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface on Christmas Eve, breaking its own record as the fastest object to reach the star.
The spacecraft sent a simple yet highly anticipated beacon tone to Earth just before midnight on December 26, confirming that it had survived the encounter and is in good health. Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) received the signal around midnight ET.
Parker Solar Probe’s close flyby was part of its mission to collect data about the sun’s corona, which has long been a mystery. The spacecraft is programmed to send a more detailed status update on January 1, when scientists will know if it collected the expected observations.
The probe will transmit most of its images and science data in late January, when it swings away from the sun to a safe distance.
NASA’s engineering team designed a custom heat shield to protect the spacecraft from the sun’s intense heat, which reached temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit during the flyby. The mission was considered successful due to the team’s engineering and autonomous system that protects the probe from extreme temperatures while allowing it to point towards the star.
The Parker Solar Probe’s historic close pass has returned data from uncharted territory, shedding light on the sun’s corona and other mysteries of our solar system.
Source: https://www.space.com/the-universe/sun/nasas-parker-solar-probe-phones-home-after-surviving-historic-close-sun-flyby