NASA's Parker Solar Probe aims to fly closer to the sun like never before
A NASA spacecraft is about to make the closest approach to the sun
By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN
Published - Dec 22, 2024, 10:05 AM ET
Last Updated - Dec 22, 2024, 10:05 AM EST
NEW YORK (AP) — A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.
The next milestone: closest approach to the sun. Plans call for Parker on Tuesday to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere and pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun's surface.
At that moment, if the sun and Earth were at opposite ends of a football field, Parker "would be on the 4-yard line,” said NASA's Joe Westlake.
