NASA Parker Solar Probe closest ever Sun flyby on Christmas Eve

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to make its record-breaking closest ever Sun flyby on Christmas Eve

Washington: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to make its record-breaking closest ever Sun flyby on Christmas Eve.

Launched in 2018, the car-size Parker Solar Probe, was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.

The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed, built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

Closest Ever Sun Flyby

The Parker Solar Probe is approaching to Sun and is likely to come closest ever to the biggest star of our solar system on December 24, 2024 or Christmas Eve when it will be just 6.1 million km or 3.8 million miles.

This will be at around 6:53 a.m. EST or 5:23 PM IST a day befor Christmas 2024 when Parker Solar Probe will blaze through the Sun’s outer atmosphere at a jaw-dropping 430,000 mph.

Parker to report back on Dec 27

NASA had its last contact with Parker Probe two days ago - on December 20, 2024. The next contact will be on December 27, 2024 when Parker will send a beacon tone to confirm it is safe after the historic and record-breaking closest Sun flyby, the American space agency said.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to make its record-breaking closest ever Sun flyby on Christmas Eve. #NASA #ParkerSolarProbe pic.twitter.com/kY2A5P90Il

— ummid.com (@ummid) December 23, 2024

"During the closest approach, or perihelion, mission operations will be out of contact with the spacecraft, and Parker will transmit another beacon tone on Friday December 27, 2024 to confirm its health following the close flyby", NASA said.

“No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory” said Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at APL.

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