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Space probe
Parker Solar Probe
Parker Solar Probe is a space probe. Parker gets closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before it: to within 6.1 million km – right inside the corona.
Fact file
- Type
- Space probe
- Launch
- 12 August 2018
Interesting facts about the Parker Solar Probe
- Parker gets closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before it: to within 6.1 million km – right inside the corona.
- At about 690,000 km/h it is the fastest object ever built – from Zurich to New York in about 30 seconds.
- Its heat shield withstands about 1,400 °C, while behind it things stay at almost room temperature.
Frequently asked questions about the Parker Solar Probe
How close does the Parker Solar Probe get to the Sun?
The Parker Solar Probe comes within 6.1 million km of the Sun. No spacecraft has ever been closer. In doing so it flies right through the corona, the Sun's outer layer.
How fast is the Parker Solar Probe?
Close to the Sun it reaches about 690,000 km/h. That makes it the fastest object humans have ever built.
Why doesn't the Parker Solar Probe melt?
A heat shield protects the probe. It withstands about 1,400 °C, while behind it things stay at almost room temperature. The corona is very hot, but so thin that it transfers only a little heat.
When was the Parker Solar Probe launched?
The mission began on 12 August 2018.
The mission
A NASA mission named after the solar scientist Eugene Parker – the first probe to be named after a living person. He watched the launch live in 2018, aged 91.
Technology and flight
It “touches” the Sun: it flies through the corona to find out why it is so much hotter than the Sun's surface and how the solar wind is born.
Discoveries
Seven flybys of Venus made its orbit tighter and tighter. Since late 2024 it has reached its closest point to the Sun every 88 days. (To keep things simple, the app shows only this final orbit.)
For comparison
At its closest point to the Sun, the Sun appears about 22 times as wide from there as it does in our sky.
Mission milestones
- Launch
Launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral.
- First close approach
On its very first pass, Parker breaks the record for the closest approach to the Sun.
- In the corona
For the first time a spacecraft flies through the corona – the probe “touches” the Sun.
- Record approach
On Christmas Eve 2024, Parker races past the Sun's surface at a distance of only 6.1 million km.
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