On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe achieved a significant milestone in space exploration.
The spacecraft made its closest-ever approach to the Sun, flying within just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface. This flyby, which occurred at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT), set a new record as the closest any human-made object has ever come to our star.
This historic passage was the Parker Solar Probe’s 22nd close flyby of the Sun. It marked the closest the spacecraft will ever come to the Sun, surpassing even its previous close encounters. Despite the excitement surrounding the event, NASA temporarily lost contact with the spacecraft during the flyby. The first confirmation that Parker survived this intense approach will come on December 27, 2024, when a beacon tone is expected to confirm its status.
The Parker Solar Probe is no stranger to breaking records. In September 2023, it became the fastest human-made object, reaching speeds of 394,736 miles per hour (635,266 kilometers per hour). During this Christmas Eve flyby, the spacecraft reached a speed of 430,000 mph (692,000 kph), breaking its own speed record. To put this in perspective, Parker’s velocity is around 300 times faster than the top speed of a jet fighter. These remarkable speeds were made possible by the spacecraft’s use of gravity assists from Venus during its flybys, with the latest assist occurring in November 2024.
While the records are impressive, the Parker Solar Probe’s mission is driven by the goal of understanding the Sun. The spacecraft’s primary objective is to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, which remains one of the biggest mysteries in solar science. Despite being farther from the Sun’s core, the corona is much hotter than the Sun’s surface, reaching temperatures exceeding 2 million degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 million degrees Celsius). This phenomenon, known as the “coronal heating problem,” has baffled scientists for decades. By getting closer than ever before, Parker aims to collect data that could help explain this mystery.
In addition to its scientific contributions, the Parker Solar Probe’s mission is important for space weather forecasting. Understanding the Sun’s behavior is crucial for predicting solar storms that could affect life on Earth, including satellite operations and communications systems. The data collected by Parker will help improve these predictions.
The spacecraft’s next two flybys will occur on March 22, 2025, and June 19, 2025, bringing it as close to the Sun as it was on Christmas Eve while maintaining similar speeds.
