NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has completed its 21st close approach (called perihelion) to the sun on September 30, 2024, at 5:15 UTC (1:15 a.m. EDT), according to NASA.
During its 21st close approach, the spacecraft came at a distance of only 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) from the solar surface and was moving at a speed of 394,700 miles per hour (635,300 kilometers per hour) around the sun.
After its 21st close approach, NASA’s Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory located in Laurel, Maryland, which designed and manages the spacecraft, confirmed that Parker is in good health and all systems are operating normally on October 3, 2024.
Parker Solar Probe will make its next close approach (i.e., the 22nd) on December 24, 2024, according to NASA.
During its 22nd close approach, the spacecraft will come at a distance of only 3.8 million miles from the solar surface and will be moving about 430,000 miles per hour.
Before the 22nd close approach, the spacecraft will flyby Venus on November 6, 2024, and the gravity of Venus will help the spacecraft change its orbit as well as speed.
Parker Solar Probe will complete its primary seven-year mission in 2025, when it will complete its 24 orbits around the sun.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018, and it became the first spacecraft to fly through the sun’s upper atmosphere, known as the corona, in 2021.
The orbits of the spacecraft around the sun are designed in such a way that each orbit brings the spacecraft closer to the sun.
The spacecraft orbits the sun in a highly elliptical orbit. During its close approach, it comes well within the orbit of Mercury, and when it is farthest from the sun, it flies past Venus’s orbit.
Visit here to know the current position of the Parker Solar Probe.
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