NASA announces that its spacecraft is “safe” after approaching the sun

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said today that the Parker Solar Probe is “safe” and operating normally after it succeeded in completing the closest approach to the sun that any man-made body has reached.

The spacecraft passed within 6.1 million kilometers of the sun’s surface on December 24, flying into the sun’s outer atmosphere called the solar corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about the closest star to Earth.

NASA stated that the operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a signal from the probe before midnight last Thursday.

She added that the spacecraft is expected to send detailed measurement data on its condition on January 1.

NASA said on its website that the spacecraft moved at speeds of up to 692,000 kilometers per hour and was exposed to temperatures of up to 982 degrees Celsius.

She stated that the Parker Solar Probe will take close-up measurements of the Sun in this study, which will help scientists better understand how the temperature of materials in this region rises to millions of degrees.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 and was gradually approaching the Sun by flying close to Venus until the planet’s gravity pulled it into a narrower orbit with the Sun.