2024-01-09 14:53:45
MADRID, 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 18th close approach to the Sun, tying its own distance record passing 7.26 million kilometers from the solar surface.
The close approach (known as perihelion) occurred at 0.56 UTC on December 29 with the Parker Solar Probe traveling at 635,266 kilometers per hour around the Sun, also equaling the speed record of the seventeenth solar encounter. The milestone also marked the midpoint of the mission’s 18th solar encounter, which began on December 24, 2023 and continued until January 2, 2024.
The spacecraft entered perihelion in good condition and all systems were functioning normally. The spacecraft communicated again with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where the spacecraft was also designed and built, sending a status beacon tone on January 5, NASA reported.
Launched in 2018, this space probe aims to study and monitor the outer solar corona and the behavior of the Sun. It is the fastest vehicle built by humans in history and the closest to its star. In 2025 it is expected to reach 690,000 kilometers per hour, 0.064% of the speed of light.
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