Space
Historic milestone in space: NASA achieves closest approach to the Sun
A probe launched by the US space agency got as close to the surface of the sun as any previous mission.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has achieved a historic milestone by making the closest-ever approach to the Sun. On Christmas Eve 2024, the spacecraft plunged into the Sun’s outer atmosphere, coming within a mere 3.8 million miles of the solar surface.
While that sounds a pretty significany distance away, this groundbreaking mission has pushed the boundaries of space exploration, bringing humanity closer to our star than ever before.
Better than Icarus: how the probe flew just close enough to the Sun
The probe hurtled through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, at an astonishing speed of 430,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest human-made object ever. To put this velocity into perspective, it could travel from Washington, D.C. to Tokyo in less than a minute.
During its perilous journey, the Parker Solar Probe endured extreme conditions, facing temperatures up to 1,800°F (982°C) and intense radiation. The spacecraft’s innovative heat shield, capable of withstanding temperatures up to 2,500°F (1,371°C), played a crucial role in its survival. After several anxious days of radio silence, NASA received a beacon signal from the probe on December 26, confirming its safe passage through the corona.
“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 (a continuous flow of material escaping the Sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed,” the agency said.
Launched in 2018, the probe has made multiple flybys of Venus to adjust its trajectory, gradually tightening its orbit around the Sun. The December 24 flyby was the 22nd pass around the Sun, with at least two more orbits planned at this record-breaking distance.
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