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.