NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which made history by reaching its closest approach to the Sun on December 24th, was out of contact on Christmas Day as expected. This communication blackout was because the spacecraft experienced extreme temperatures and radiation during its closest approach to the Sun, reports Forbes magazine.
Valuable Insights
The Parker Solar Probe completed its closest approach to the Sun on Christmas Eve, reaching a record-breaking distance of just 3.86 million miles from the solar surface. This milestone allows scientists to gain valuable insights into the sun’s mysterious corona.
However, the close pass occurred on the far side of the Sun from Earth, resulting in a temporary loss of communication with the spacecraft. Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is currently awaiting re-establishment of contact. “No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory,” said Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at APL. “We’re excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the sun.”
Expected and Planned
The three-day communication blackout during the Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the Sun was intentional and part of the spacecraft’s design. Dr. Nour Raouafi, the project scientist, explained that the spacecraft must operate autonomously during this critical phase, as communication and control from Earth are impossible. “When it is flying near the sun, it has to be 100% autonomous,” said Dr. Nour Raouafi, the project’s scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, during a media roundtable at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting on Dec. 10, 2024. “We cannot do anything to it if it encounters any problem — it has to deal with it on its own.”
“This is one example of NASA’s bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe,” said Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We can’t wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks.”
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Source: Forbes
