Spacecraft safely navigates the Sun’s corona in a groundbreaking mission to uncover solar mysteries.

NASA confirmed on December 27 that its Parker Solar Probe successfully completed the closest-ever approach to the Sun by a human-made object. The spacecraft, which flew within 6.1 million km of the Sun’s surface on December 24, entered the outer atmosphere of the Sun, known as the corona, as part of its ongoing mission to gather vital data about our closest star.

The probe’s operations team, based at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, received a beacon signal from the spacecraft shortly before midnight on December 26, confirming it was safe and operating normally. A detailed telemetry update is expected from the probe on January 1.

Travelling at speeds of up to 692,000 km/h, the Parker Solar Probe withstood temperatures as high as 982°C during its record-breaking approach. This daring mission allows the probe to make key measurements that will help scientists unravel the mysteries of the Sun, including the heating of materials to millions of degrees, the origins of the solar wind, and how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed.

Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has gradually been edging closer to the Sun, using Venus flybys to adjust its orbit and get progressively nearer. This pioneering mission is expected to revolutionise our understanding of solar dynamics.