Month: December 2024

Following its record-breaking closest approach to the Sun, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has transmitted a beacon tone back to Earth indicating it’s in good health and operating normally.

The mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland received the signal just before midnight EST, on the night of Dec. 26. The team was out of contact with the spacecraft during closest approach, which occurred on Dec. 24, with Parker Solar Probe zipping just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface while moving about 430,000 miles per hour.

The spacecraft is expected to send back detailed telemetry data on its status on Jan. 1.

This close-up study of the Sun allows Parker Solar Probe to take measurements that help scientists better understand how material in this region gets heated to millions of degrees, trace the origin of the solar wind (a continuous flow of material escaping the Sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed. Previous close passes have helped scientists pinpoint the origins of structures in the solar wind and map the outer boundary of the Sun’s atmosphere.

Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed, built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

By Michael Buckley

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

 

NASA Media Contact: Sarah Frazier

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is in good health and operating normally as it speeds toward its closest-ever flight around the Sun on Christmas Eve.

Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, received a beacon transmission from Parker, through NASA’s Deep Space Network complex in Canberra, Australia, at 7:20 p.m. EST today indicating all spacecraft systems were operating normally.

“This is one example of NASA’s bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe,” said Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We can’t wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks.”

Parker is now on course to fly just 3.8 million miles (around 6.1 million kilometers) from the surface of the Sun on Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 6:53 a.m. EST. During closest approach, or perihelion, mission operations will be out of contact with the spacecraft, and Parker will transmit another beacon tone on Friday, Dec. 27, to confirm its health following the close flyby.

“No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory” said Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at APL. “We’re excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the Sun.”

Parker Solar Probe was developed as a part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL manages Parker Solar Probe for NASA and designed, built and operates the mission.

You can follow along with Parker Solar Probe’s perihelion with NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System. For more on the mission, visit NASA’s Parker Solar Probe webpage.

By Michael Buckley
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

NASA Media Contact: Sarah Frazier