Month: March 2025

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 23rd close approach to the Sun on March 22, equaling its own distance record by coming within about 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the solar surface.

The close approach (known as perihelion) occurred at 22:42 UTC — or 6:42 p.m. EDT — with Parker Solar Probe moving 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour) around the Sun, again matching its own record. The spacecraft checked in on Tuesday with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland — where the spacecraft was also designed and built — with a beacon tone indicating it was in good health and all systems were operating normally.

Perihelion marked the midpoint in the mission’s 23rd solar encounter, which began March 18 and runs through Thursday, March 27. The flyby, the second at this distance and speed, allows the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements of the solar wind and related activity.

By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is zooming through its 23rd science-gathering solar encounter, heading toward a close approach of the Sun on Saturday, March 22, that matches its record distance of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) from the solar surface.

The spacecraft will also equal its record-setting flyby speed of 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour) — a mark that, like the distance, was set during its latest close approach on Dec. 24.

The mission’s four scientific investigations are again prepared to collect unique observations from inside the Sun’s corona. The spacecraft was operating normally when it last checked in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland — where it was also designed and built — on March 16. Parker will be out of contact with Earth and operating autonomously during closest approach this weekend and is scheduled to transmit data on its status to mission controllers on Tuesday, March 25.

The flyby, as the second several at this distance and speed, is allowing the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements of the solar wind and related activity. At the same time, scientists continue to dig into the data still streaming back from the December closest approach.