Hot Pursuit: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Completes 18th Close Approach to the Sun

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe effectively finished its 18th close technique to the Sun on December 28, 2023, matching previous range and speed records, and interacted its healthy status back to objective control. Credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Brian Monroe

Parker Solar Probe’s 18th close method to the Sun set range and speed records, marking a crucial turning point in its continuous objective.

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NASA

Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.” Its core values are “safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.” NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=” L_SQUARE_B.R_SQUARE_B. ” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”> NASA‘s Parker Solar Probe finished its 18th close method to the Sun on December 28, 2023, matching its own range record by skimming almost 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers)from the solar surface area.

The close technique (called perihelion) took place at 7:56 p.m. ESTwith Parker Solar Probe taking a trip at 394,736 miles per hour(635,266 kilometers per hour) around the Sun– likewise matching the speed record for the 17th solar encounter. The turning point likewise marked the midway point in the objective’s 18th solar encounter, which started December 24, 2023, and continued through January 2, 2024.

Parker Solar Probe’s 18th orbit consisted of a perihelion that brought the spacecraft within 4.51 million miles of the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

The spacecraft went into the encounter in excellent health, with all systems running generally. Parker Solar Probe inspected back in with objective operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland– where the spacecraft was likewise created and constructed– by sending out a status beacon tone on January 5.

Illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Parker Solar Probe

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, a groundbreaking objective in solar science, was introduced on August 12, 2018, with the main goal of studying the Sun more carefully and in higher information than any spacecraft before it. Called after solar physicist Eugene Parker, who proposed the presence of the solar wind, this objective marks a substantial turning point in humankind’s mission to comprehend our closest star.

The Parker Solar Probe is created to stand up to severe heat and radiation near the Sun. It utilizes an innovative heat guard that makes it possible for the spacecraft to withstand temperature levels going beyond 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit while keeping its instruments at a fairly comfy temperature level.

This bold probe intends to decipher the secrets of the Sun’s corona, the outer part of the Sun’s environment, which is hotter than its surface area for factors not yet completely comprehended. The Parker Solar Probe is likewise entrusted with studying solar wind and the systems that accelerate it, in addition to solar energetic particles, which are vital for comprehending area weather condition and its effect on Earth.

Throughout its objective, the probe carries out a series of close techniques to the Sun, slowly getting closer with time through using Find out more

Parker Solar Probe

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