Parker Solar Probe Gears Up for Seventh Solar Pass

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make its next close approach to the Sun on Jan. 17, 2021, during its seventh science-gathering orbit around our star. At its closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, the spacecraft will reach about 8.4 million miles (13.5 million kilometers) from the Sun’s surface, while traveling at a speed of around 289,930 miles per hour.

Diagram showing Parker Solar Probe's position in space on Jan. 15 as it approaches the seventh perihelion pass of its mission