Nasa spacecraft ‘safe’ after closest-ever approach to Sun

By Reuters
December 28, 2024
A 2018 artists concept shows the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft flying into the Suns outer atmosphere, called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about the Sun. — Reuters/File
A 2018 artist's concept shows the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft flying into the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about the Sun. — Reuters/File

WASHINGTON: Nasa said on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe was “safe” and operating normally after successfully completing the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object.

The spacecraft passed just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface on Dec 24, flying into the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about Earth’s closest star.

The agency said the operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received the signal, a beacon tone, from the probe just before midnight on Thursday.