Parker spacecraft reached the closest distance between man and the sun

NASA’s spacecraft reached the closest distance to the sun on Christmas Eve and set a historic record. Scientists believe that this achievement is as important as the landing of man on the moon.

According to Tekna Technology News Media Astronomy Service, the Parker Solar Probe was placed at a distance of only 3.8 million miles from the Sun at 6:53 am US time. The spacecraft traveled at an astonishing 430,000 miles per hour and approached the Sun at a temperature exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. This probe “touched” the Sun to better understand our star.

During this short pass, the spacecraft passed through the solar corona, the extremely hot upper atmosphere of the Sun that is the source of Earth’s destructive solar storms. Although the Parker Probe was exposed to extremely high temperatures, its nearly indestructible heat shield should protect it from harsh conditions.

However, mission scientists will have to wait until Friday for confirmation, as communications with the spacecraft will be lost for several days due to its proximity to the Sun. Thomas Zorbuchen, the former head of NASA’s science division, described this achievement as historic and important as the landing of man on the moon. Parker Solar Probe Mission Operations Manager Nick Pinkin said no man-made object has ever come this close to a star, and Parker will send data back to Earth from an uncharted region.

This is the first close pass of three record-breaking passes. The next two passes will take place in March and June 2025, and the spacecraft is expected to reach a similar distance from the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe launched from Cape Canaveral in August 2018 and began a 93 million mile journey towards the Sun. The mission’s main goal was to gather more data about the Sun’s corona by flying as close as possible to the stellar atmosphere.

Because the force of gravity is so great at this distance, the spacecraft must travel at a very high speed to avoid falling into the Sun. To reach this speed, the spacecraft has repeatedly circled around the Sun and Venus, and has gained more speed each time. In 2021, Parker made his first successful pass through the Sun’s corona, spending five hours in a region with temperatures exceeding one million degrees Celsius.

After completing its seventh orbit around Venus in November, Parker used Venus’ gravity to fly seven times closer to the star than any other spacecraft. Parker also broke his previous speed record and reached a speed of more than 395 thousand miles per hour. Eric Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA, said this is one example of NASA’s bold missions that are doing something no one has done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe.

To avoid melting during this time, the Parker Solar Probe is designed to withstand extremely high temperatures. The body of the probe is built with an eight-foot-wide heat shield made of a type of carbon foam. Although the shield is only 4.5 inches thick, its material composition is nearly indestructible.

Parkerba will send a signal on Friday, confirming its survival, and will send more data soon. The probe is expected to make four more close flybys in 2025, but none will come as close to the Sun as tomorrow’s flyby. And although the spacecraft will eventually be destroyed by the Sun’s gravity, its heat shield could remain in orbit around the Sun for thousands of years.