Ops Teams Confirmed NASA Mission “Touched The Sun”

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe came within 3.8 million miles of the Sun on December 24 and survived, operations teams have confirmed.

The closest approach flyby occurred at 6:53 a.m. EST while the spacecraft was cruising at a blistering 430,000 mph.

There was no lack of drama, however, as the spacecraft did not send any messages until the night of December 26 when mission specialists were crowded around a control room waiting to hear from Parker.

The expected signals actually arrived a few seconds early.

Dr. Nour Rawafi, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the project scientist for the mission, said, “I’m proud of what has been achieved. It’s really a historic milestone for space exploration.”

The Parker probe utilized a series of gravity-assist maneuvers, swinging around Venus seven times to set up for the close solar flybys by transitioning into a very eccentric orbit that brought it closer and closer to the optimal orbit.

Dr. Rawafi continued, “Parker Solar Probe is braving one of the most extreme environments in space and exceeding all expectations. This mission is ushering a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the Sun’s deepest and most enduring mysteries.”

Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, "Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star. By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”

FMI:  science.nasa.gov/