Parker Solar Probe (2024)

FAQs

What is the current status of the Parker Solar Probe? ›

Parker Solar Probe is currently in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 173,713,383 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension of Parker Solar Probe is 02h 41m 07s and the Declination is +13° 43' 12” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom).

Parker Solar Probe is currently in the constellation of Aries. The current Right Ascension is 02h 31m 07s and the Declination is +12° 53' 49”.

The probe survives these close encounters—along with the Sun's temperatures—because the Sun's corona isn't particularly dense.

For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun's upper atmosphere – the corona – and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. The new milestone marks one major step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science.

The thermal protection sheet of a 4.5-inch thick composite carbon foam material is used to protect the Solar Parker probe from intense temperature.

The spacecraft will come as close as 3.83 million miles (and 6.16 million kilometers) to the Sun, well within the orbit of Mercury and more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before.

It will approach to within 9.86 solar radii (6.9 million km or 4.3 million miles) from the center of the Sun, and by 2025 will travel, at closest approach, as fast as 690,000 km/h (430,000 mph) or 191 km/s, which is 0.064% the speed of light. It is the fastest object ever built.

(The probe strategically passes by Venus for "gravity assists" that propel it closer to the sun; these Venusian flybys minimally slow the craft, but ultimately result in it picking up even more speed as it zips nearer to the massive star.)

Nasa's Parker Solar Probe has once again broken its own record for being the fastest man-made object ever. The history-making craft reached a ferocious 394,736 miles per hour (635,266 km per hour) as it continues its mission hurtling around the Sun.

The solar arrays produce 384 W power at solar encounter. They are actively cooled, each 1.12 m long by 0.69 m wide for a total area of 1.55 square meters. Propulsion is provided by a hydrazine tank mounted in the center of the bus and 12 4.4-N blowdown monoprop hydrazine thrusters.

Where is Voyager 1 now? ›

Voyager 1 is currently in the constellation of Ophiucus, at a distance of 24,357,977,715 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension of Voyager 1 is 17h 15m 10s and the Declination is +12° 25' 17” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom).

The Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969 was a huge feat of human endeavour, engineering and science. It was a moment that the world had been waiting for. Apollo 11 was followed by six further trips to the Moon, five of which landed successfully. 12 men walked on the lunar surface in total.

Scientists with NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission think they have discovered the processes that give birth to streams of charged particles – called solar wind – released from the Sun's corona, or upper atmosphere.

Even at the peak speed of the Parker Solar Probe (~180 km/sec), it would take more than 7,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system. Interstellar distances are HUGE.

PSP discovered evidence of a cosmic dust-free zone of 3.5 million miles (5.6 million kilometres) radius from the Sun, due to vaporisation of cosmic dust particles by the Sun's radiation.

Over seven years, the spacecraft will complete 24 orbits around the Sun. At its closest approach, the spacecraft will come within about 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) of the Sun.