Parker Solar Probe

NASA spacecraft ‘safe’ after closest-ever approach to Sun

NASA said on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe was "safe" and operating normally after successfully completing the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object. The spacecraft passed 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from the solar surface on Dec. 24, flying into the sun's outer atmosphere called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about Earth's closest star. The agency said the operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland receiv...

December 27, 2024 4:24 PM

NASA confirms Parker Solar Probe safe after record-breaking solar flyby

NASA confirmed on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe is "safe" after becoming the first human-made object in history to fly dangerously close to the Sun. The US space agency stated that the probe, which made its record-setting close approach of just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the solar surface on December 24, transmitted a beacon tone on Friday to confirm its health following the flyby. During its closest approach, known as the perihelion, the spacecraft was not in contact...