NASA announced on Friday that the Parker Solar Probe is \"safe\" and operating normally after successfully completing the closest-ever approach to the sun by any human-made object.
The spacecraft flew within 6.1 million kilometers of the solar surface on December 24, venturing into the sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona. This mission aims to help scientists gain a deeper understanding of Earth's closest star.
The operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a beacon signal from the probe just before midnight on Thursday, confirming its status.
NASA expects the spacecraft to send detailed telemetry data about its condition on January 1.
Traveling at speeds of up to 692,000 kilometers per hour, the Parker Solar Probe endured extreme temperatures reaching up to 982 degrees Celsius, according to NASA.
\"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, and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed,\" NASA explained.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has been gradually drawing closer to the sun by using flybys of Venus to harness its gravitational pull, tightening its orbit around the star.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
