NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has made history by becoming the first human-made spacecraft to get closer to the Sun than any other before it. On Friday, December 27,  NASA confirmed that the probe, which had its closest-ever approach to the Sun on December 24, is in good health and operating normally.

The mission team at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland received a beacon signal from the spacecraft just before midnight EST on December 26, confirming that it was safe and functioning well. The Parker Solar Probe had been out of contact with Earth during its close approach to the Sun, which brought it within a mere 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface. At the time, the spacecraft was speeding along at an astonishing 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour).

The Parker Solar Probe's mission is to gather crucial data that will help scientists understand various aspects of the Sun. Its observations help answer important questions, such as how the Sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona, heats to millions of degrees and what causes energetic particles to accelerate to nearly the speed of light. 

The spacecraft’s closest approach is a significant milestone in NASA’s Living With a Star program, which focuses on studying the Sun-Earth system to better understand phenomena that affect life and society. The program is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, while APL is responsible for designing, building, and operating the spacecraft.

The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, has been gradually getting closer to the Sun using gravity assists from Venus. This strategy allows it to tighten its orbit and conduct deeper studies of the Sun’s behavior. Following the close approach, the probe is expected to send detailed telemetry data about its status on January 1.

Despite the extreme conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 1,800°F (982°C), the Parker Solar Probe is performing as expected, continuing its groundbreaking exploration of Earth's closest star.

The Parker Solar Probe’s close-up study of the Sun provides unprecedented insights into its dynamic environment. By capturing detailed measurements, the probe helps scientists unravel the mysteries of the Sun's outer layers. One of the key phenomena it investigates is the intense heating of material within the Sun’s atmosphere, which reaches temperatures of millions of degrees. Understanding this heating process is crucial for comprehending solar activity and its effects on the entire solar system. The probe also traces the origin of the solar wind—a continuous flow of charged particles that escape the Sun and influence space weather This mission significantly advances our knowledge of the Sun, offering a closer look at its behavior and its profound influence on the solar system.