And Wednesday December 25 we learned that the NASA’s Parker probe had just made history by flying over the solar corona, this Friday December 27 she becomes the probe having “succeeded in its closest approach to the Sun” according to NASA.
Also read:
Christmas under the sun: A NASA probe breaks all records by getting as close as possible to the solar atmosphere
The Parker probe was sent to learn more about the Sun particularly on its solar storms.
She also has could transmit a sound signal to Earth in which she indicates that she is in good health and that she works correctly. “The spacecraft should send back detailed telemetry data on its status on January 1,” Michael Buckley said on the NASA website.
Parker Solar Probe has phoned home!
After passing just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface on Dec. 24 — the closest solar flyby in history — we have received Parker Solar Probe’s beacon tone confirming the spacecraft is safe. https://t.co/zbWT7iDVtP
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) https://twitter.com/NASASun/status/1872507988533039371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
New data
The probe is now at 3.8 million kilometers from the solar surface and, it moves at approximately 430,000 kilometers per hour. Its proximity allows it to “take measurements that help scientists better understand how matter in this region is heated at millions of degrees, trace the origin of the solar wind and discover how energetic particles are accelerated up to near the speed of light.”
The previous passages made it possible to “know the origins of the structures of the solar wind” and to “map the outer limit of the Sun’s atmosphere”.
