Artists idea of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Credit: NASA
Blazing along at space-record speeds that would get it from Earth to the Moon in under an hour, NASAs Parker Solar Probe finished its 10th close method to the Sun on November 21, coming within 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers) of the solar surface area.
The close method (referred to as perihelion), likewise at a record distance, took place at 4:25 a.m. EST (8:25 UTC), with Parker Solar Probe moving 364,660 miles per hour (586,864 kilometers per hour). The milestone also marked the midway point in the missions 10th solar encounter, which began November 16 and continues through November 26.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkjns APL/Steve Gribben
By NASA
November 26, 2021
The spacecraft entered the encounter in excellent health, with all systems operating normally. Parker Solar Probe is set up to inspect back in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland– where it was also created and constructed– on November 24.
Parker Solar Probe is in the 10th of 24 prepared, gradually closer orbits around the Sun. the spacecraft, built and run at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, launched on August 12, 2018. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
The spacecraft will send science data from the encounter– largely covering the properties and structure of the solar wind along with the dust environment near the Sun– back to Earth from December 23-January 9.