Parker Solar Probe

NASA has now reached a new milestone, as a spacecraft made history by surviving the closest-ever approach to the Sun. Scientists received a signal from the Parker Solar Probe late on December 27th, 2024 (12 am EST), after days of silence during its scorching fly-by. NASA reported the probe was safe and operating normally after coming within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) of the Sun’s surface.

Parker Solar Probe launched aboard a Delta IV-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Aug. 12, 2018.

Nation United States of America (USA)

Objective(s) Solar Orbit

Spacecraft Parker Solar Probe (Solar Probe Plus)

Spacecraft Mass 1,510 pounds (685 kilograms) at launch

Mission Design and Management NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Launch Vehicle Delta IV-Heavy with Upper Stage

Launch Date and Time Aug. 12, 2018 / 7:31 UTC)

Launch Site Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

Scientific Instruments 1. Fields Experiment (FIELDS) 2. Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS☉IS ) 3. Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) 4. Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP)