Parker Solar Probe completes a record-setting swing by the sun

Parker Solar Probe Completes a Record-Setting Swing by the Sun
Parker Solar Probe is in the 10th of 24 planned, progressively closer orbits around the Sun. the spacecraft, built and operated at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, launched on Aug. 12, 2018. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Blazing along at space-record speeds that would get it from Earth to the Moon in under an hour, NASA's Parker Solar Probe completed its 10th close approach to the sun on Nov. 21, coming within 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers) of the solar surface.

The (known as perihelion), also at a record distance, occurred at 4:25 a.m. EST (8:25 UTC), with Parker Solar Probe moving 364,660 miles per hour (586,864 kilometers per hour). The milestone also marked the midway point in the mission's 10th solar encounter, which began Nov. 16 and continues through Nov. 26.

The spacecraft entered the encounter in good health, with all systems operating normally. Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to check back in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland—where it was also designed and built—on Nov 24.

The spacecraft will transmit science data from the encounter—largely covering the properties and structure of the solar wind as well as the dust environment near the sun—back to Earth from Dec. 23-Jan. 9.

Provided by NASA

Citation: Parker Solar Probe completes a record-setting swing by the sun (2021, November 26) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2021-11-parker-solar-probe-record-setting-sun.html
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