NASA's Parker Solar Probe is still circling the Sun, making history, and this week it's gearing up for another record-breaking approach. On Dec. 24 at 6:53 a.m. ET, the spacecraft's orbit will pass just 3.8 million miles from the sun's surface, according to the space agency. This will be the closest it or any other probe has ever come to the Sun. The milestone will mark the completion of the Parker solar probe's 22nd orbit around our star and the first of three final flybys planned for his mission. The craft, launched in 2018, is expected to complete a total of 24 orbits.
“No man-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory,” said Nick Pinkin, mission operations manager for the Parker Solar Probe mission at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. NASA blog. “We're very excited to hear back from the spacecraft as it returns around the Sun.”
The Parker Solar Probe will travel at about 430,000 mph during its closest flyby. He will contact the team to confirm his health on December 27, when he will be far enough from the Sun to resume communication.