NASA's daredevil solar spacecraft survives 2nd close flyby of our sun
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its second close flyby of the sun, the space agency announced earlier this week.
The car-sized spacecraft swooped within 8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun's surface at a whopping 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour), matching the historic record it set during its encounter on Christmas Eve last year.
During this approach, which occurred on Saturday (March 22), the Parker Solar Probe once again operated autonomously, with its four science instruments programmed to collect science data about solar wind from inside the sun's corona — the outermost layer of its atmosphere. On Tuesday (March 25), the probe beamed home a beacon tone, signaling that it was in good health and that all systems were functioning normally, NASA said in a statement.
"The flyby, the second at this distance and speed, allows the spacecraft to conduct unrivaled scientific measurements of the solar wind and related activity," the statement reads.
Scientists hope the close-up data collected by the probe will help them better predict space weather as well as solve long-standing mysteries about our star, such as why its corona is hundreds of times hotter than its surface as it extends into space.
"This mission's trailblazing research is rewriting the textbooks on solar science by going to a place no human-made object has ever been," NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro said in another statement.
The spacecraft's record-setting achievements highlight the effectiveness of its custom heat shield, which safeguards the probe from the sun's intense heat, enabling its electronics and instruments to function at room temperature — even while it faces directly toward our star to collect solar material.
In recognition of the specially designed thermal protection system and other advancements in aeronautics that contributed to the spacecraft's design, the Parker Solar Probe team — comprising engineers and scientists from NASA, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, and 40 other partner organizations nationwide — was recently honored with the 2024 Robert J. Collier Trophy annual award by the National Aeronautic Association.
Related Stories:
— Hold onto your hats! Is the 'blaze star' T Corona Borealis about to go boom?
— Where will the partial solar eclipse be visible this weekend?
— 4 rocky exoplanets found around Barnard's Star, one of the sun's nearest neighbors
"This amazing team brought to life an incredibly difficult space science mission that had been studied, and determined to be impossible, for more than 60 years," Ralph Semmel, who is the director of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, said in the statement
"They did so by solving numerous long-standing technology challenges and dramatically advancing our nation's spaceflight capabilities."
The Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018, is scheduled for one more flyby this year at approximately the same speed and distance from the sun, on June 19.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Digital Trends
2 hours ago
- Digital Trends
How to watch SpaceX launch the mighty Starship on its 10th flight
SpaceX is close to launching its enormous Starship rocket for the 10th time. The spaceflight company recently announced that it's targeting Sunday, August 24, for the highly anticipated launch. Recommended Videos Comprising the upper stage Starship spacecraft and first-stage Super Heavy booster, the rocket will launch from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas. Once fully operational, NASA and SpaceX hope to use the 121-meter-tall Starship rocket for crew and cargo missions to the moon and possibly even Mars. First up, NASA wants to use a modified version of the spacecraft to return humans to the lunar surface in the Artemis III mission, which is currently set for 2027. But with testing of the Starship ongoing, that date may slip. SpaceX has designed the Starship to be a fully reusable rocket, allowing it to use both the booster and spacecraft for multiple missions, thereby saving massively on mission costs. How to watch SpaceX is targeting 6:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) on Sunday, August 24, for the 10th Starship launch from the company's Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. Technical issues or adverse weather conditions could prompt SpaceX to launch later, so be sure to check back here — or SpaceX's X account — for the latest information. The launch will be livestreamed by SpaceX on its X account. What to expect Whether you're there in person or watching online, you'll witness the world's most powerful rocket climbing skyward, generating around 17 million pounds of thrust as the huge rocket leaves the launchpad. SpaceX will livestream the launch and early part of the flight, with cameras attached to both the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft tracking the mission's progress. Unlike some earlier Starship flights, the Super Heavy will not be returning to the launch tower after liftoff. Instead, cameras will capture footage of both parts of the vehicle coming down in their respective splashdown sites. One more thing … SpaceX chief Elon Musk has promised to give an update on the company's plans for the Starship shortly before the 10th flight takes place. The event will likely involve Musk speaking from a stage at Starbase. We'll update here when SpaceX confirms a start time for the event.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Could Comet 3I/Atlas Be A Threat? Here's What Experts Are Saying
On the 1st of July 2025, the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile spotted a new comet entering our solar system. This comet was named 3I/ATLAS, as it's only the third interstellar object humans observed passing through our solar system. The previous two interstellar bodies discovered were 1I/'Oumuamua (spotted in 2017), and 2I/BORISOV (detected in 2019). It seems that 3I/ATLAS is similar to 2I/BORISOV by its icy composition. Beyond that, we don't know much about the new interstellar visitor. Scientists rush to observe 3I/ATLAS and discover as much as they can, as it's predicted by its current trajectory and speed to leave our solar system by the end of the year. It will come closest to our sun in late October 2025, and the sun will melt some of its ice, which means 3I/ATLAS might get a robust comet tail composed of vapor and dust. Currently, this comet has a faint coma, the cloud of dust and gas that surrounds its nucleus. But this might change with its approach to the sun. Another interesting fact is that 3I/ATLAS will pass through Mars' orbit, and we don't know what will happen then. The fact that it was ATLAS that first discovered this comet got some people concerned. The Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System has a defensive nature. It's designed to spot and warn us about comets, asteroids, or other space objects that might be on a collision course with Earth. However, according to NASA, the interstellar object will most likely fly far enough from our planet without posing any danger. Read more: This Is How Most Life On Earth Will End What NASA Has To Say The ATLAS observatory in Chile is part of NASA's early warning program, spotting and defining all near-Earth objects (NEOs), especially if they're asteroids and comets that could strike our planet. ATLAS uses a network of wide-field telescopes that scan the night sky above Earth 24/7. Although designed for planetary defense against hazardous space objects, ATLAS is capable of detecting non-threatening, but scientifically interesting objects as well. The telescopes that are part of this defensive network are based in several observatories around the globe (South Africa, California, and Chile, to name a few), providing the researchers with round-the-globe coverage of the night sky. Of course, when 3I/ATLAS was first discovered, the first things determined were its trajectory and velocity. It was concluded that this comet is traveling at the speed of 137,000 miles/hour (61km/s), and the closest it will approach Earth is at 1.8 astronomical units (170 million miles, or 270 million kilometers, from Earth). NASA has ultimately concluded that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to our planet. That said, the most interesting known fact about this interstellar visitor is its age. Following its current trajectory, scientists were able to determine 3I/ATLAS originated in a part of the Milky Way that we know is older than our solar system; meaning it's potentially older than 4.6 billion years old. It's estimated that 3I/ATLAS is around 7 billion years old, making it the oldest comet observed by humans so far. Could It Be An Alien Probe? Although very little is known about 3I/ATLAS so far, there are many interesting theories surrounding this interstellar visitor. Harvard-based astrophysicist Abraham Loeb and colleagues from the UK's Initiative for Interstellar Studies, Adam Hibbert and Adam Crowl, believe this interstellar object is not a comet at all; but an alien probe coming from afar to scan Earth and its surroundings. This is not the first time Loeb has suggested such a thing. In 2017, when Oumuamua was discovered, he claimed it was an alien probe due to its unusual shape, acceleration, reflectivity, and lack of trailing gases. Although he didn't come out with any specifics about 3I/ATLAS, Loeb warns that any interstellar object should be observed as possible alien technology. As of now, there's no evidence that 3I/ATLAS is anything but an interstellar comet passing through our solar system. It was lucky that ATLAS detected it, as it is believed millions of such objects pass near or through our system without ever being detected. Scientists such as Loeb might not be completely wrong, however. 3I/ATLAS is a unique interstellar comet, and we should pay more attention to it. Read the original article on BGR. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Giant 'X' appears over Chile as 2 celestial beams of light cross
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. QUICK FACTS What it is: The luminous band of the Milky Way and the faint glow of zodiacal light Where it is: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile When it was shared: Aug. 6, 2025 This stunning image from astrophotographer Petr Horálek captures two of the night sky's most glorious sights in one — the glowing heart of the Milky Way and the elusive "zodiacal light." Despite appearing alongside one another, these two streaks of light could not be more different in origin and composition. Astronomers have constructed some of humanity's best telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere to better see the bright core of the Milky Way — dense with stars and nebulae. That core passes through constellations including Scorpius, Sagittarius and Ophiuchus, which are higher in the sky the farther south they're viewed from. This image was taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), located at an altitude of 7,200 feet (2,200 meters) in the Chilean Andes within the southern Atacama Desert. At this height, above the densest and warmest part of Earth's atmosphere, incredibly clear and dark skies are the norm, enabling observers to see not only the bright band of the Milky Way but something less obvious that resides in the solar system — zodiacal light. The biggest visible solar system phenomenon in the night sky, zodiacal light is a faint, diffuse glow in the night sky that casual observers often miss. It consists of sunlight reflecting off dust in our cosmic neighborhood, possibly from passing asteroids and comets or from the leftovers of planet formation. In 2020, a paper also claimed that zodiacal light may be primarily made of dust blown off Mars. Either way, the glow of the solar system is an arresting sight, but hard to see. MORE SPACE PHOTOS —James Webb telescope captures one of the deepest-ever views of the universe —NASA unveils 9 stunning snapshots of the cosmos in X-ray vision —'Fighting dragons' light up little-known constellation in the Southern sky Zodiacal light is at its brightest around the equinoxes and is visible along the ecliptic — the apparent path the sun takes through the sky — as a triangular beam of light on the horizon a few hours before sunrise or after sunset. That timing has led to it being called either the "false dawn" or "false dusk," though its name comes from the fact that it's visible over the 13 constellations that make up the zodiac. Horálek's spectacular image was taken in 2022 when he was an audiovisual ambassador for NOIRLab, which operates CTIO. In the photo, from left to right, are the U.S. Naval Observatory Deep South Telescope, the DIMM1 Seeing Monitor, the Chilean Automatic Supernova Search dome, the UBC Southern Observatory and the Planetary Defense 1.0-meter Telescope. Solve the daily Crossword
