NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is making history this holiday season with a daring journey into the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
If successful, it will be the closest any spacecraft has ever come to our fiery star.
Launched in 2018, the probe has already completed 21 close encounters with the Sun.
Parker Will Be Just 3.8M Miles From Sun
But this Christmas Eve fly-by takes it within just 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface.
The sail is exciting when you consider Earth is 93 million miles away.
“If the Sun and Earth were one meter apart, Parker would be just four centimeters from the Sun,” says NASA’s Dr. Nicola Fox.
What is Parker’s Mission?
The probe uses a carbon-composite shield at a speed of 430,000 mph—fast enough to zip from London to New York in under 30 seconds.
Its mission? To unravel solar mysteries like how solar radiations affect our daily lives and how the solar wind shapes our space weather.
