NASA’s Parker Solar Probe to make history with unprecedented flyby of the Sun’s corona on Christmas eve December 24 |

NASA‘s Parker Solar Probe is set to make history on December 24, 2024, by being the closest object ever to fly by the Sun. The flyby will take place at a record 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) from the surface of the Sun, further than any spacecraft has flown. The probe will pass through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, also known as corona, which is one of the most interesting regions due to its extremely high temperature, much hotter than on the Sun’s surface. The gathered data during this flyby will allow astronomers to, for example, understand phenomena related to why the corona is much hotter than the Sun’s surface.

Parker Solar Probe’s 22nd close approach on December 24

The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, is a mission to study the Sun more than it has ever been studied before. Its objectives are to explore the inner workings of the Sun, gathering crucial information that scientists can then use to understand the Sun’s behavior, particularly regarding its magnetic fields and the origin of solar winds that shape space weather. The probe is now using a series of gravity assists from Venus that will slow it down just enough as it passes by to slowly inch its trajectory closer to an eventual, much closer pass to the Sun with each go-round.
The flyby on December 24, 2024, will mark the 22nd close encounter by Parker Solar Probe since its launch. The spacecraft is traveling at an astonishing speed of 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour) and is the fastest man-made object ever created. This high velocity is partly due to the probe’s use of Venus flybys in order to increase its speed and adjust its orbit. This way, on each approach towards the sun, it travels closer. Then, its closest approach takes place on December 24.

Parker Solar Probe’s mission to uncover the Sun’s heat discrepancy

One interesting feature about the Sun is that it possesses a certain temperature disparity between the outer atmosphere and its surface. The surface (or photosphere) of the Sun, with an average temperature is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius); by comparison the corona, the outer region of the Sun’s atmosphere, reaches temperatures of 1-2 million degrees Fahrenheit (500,000 to 1,000,000 degrees Celsius). Scientists have long been puzzled about this phenomenon, and this is why the Parker Solar Probe is designed to collect data that could explain why the corona is so much hotter than the surface of the Sun.
The Parker Solar Probe will fly through the corona, measuring magnetic fields, charged particles, and energy in this extreme environment. This data will help improve models of the Sun’s behavior, providing insights into solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and space weather—all of which have significant impacts on Earth’s atmosphere, satellites, and even electrical grids.

How does the heat shield on Parker Solar Probe protect it from the Sun’s intense heat?

Given the extreme proximity to the Sun during the flyby, the Parker Solar Probe faces conditions that would melt most spacecraft. The probe’s instruments are built to withstand incredible heat. At its closest approach to the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe will encounter temperatures of around 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (980 degrees Celsius).
The spacecraft is equipped with an advanced carbon-composite foam heat shield to protect it. It is 4.5 inches (11 centimeters) thick and 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide, but it is able to maintain temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit or 1,377 degrees Celsius. The heat shield is toward the Sun side, while the rest of the spacecraft is protected against the extreme heat. The spacecraft instruments and systems will be maintained at a near-room temperature, which will be approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius, ensuring all the scientific instruments in it operate flawlessly without overheating.

Parker Solar Probe’s December 24 flyby to mark closest approach

The time for the closest approach on December 24 flyby will be at 6:53 a.m. EST 1153 GMT when Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach to the Sun. It is a big day marking the closest fly-by made so far. The team behind the mission will not receive communications directly from the spacecraft on that fly-by due to the immense distance and the sophistication involved in its programming. The Parker Solar Probe, on the other hand, will work autopilot to do its job to carry out the flyby.
Although the flyby itself will not be live, NASA, along with the Parker Solar Probe mission team, will regularly update on the status of the spacecraft. They will post all the regular data and insights through the blog of the mission and other social media channels, such as the @NASASun channel on Twitter. Once the spacecraft has finished the flyby, it will transmit the first signals to its mission controllers as a means of confirming the successful conclusion of the event.
The first data from the flyby will be oriented towards confirming the health of the spacecraft and ensuring that its systems have operated as expected. Until December 27, the team expects to receive a beacon transmission indicating the probe’s general health, but it will take until January 2025 for the first full set of telemetry data and system checkups to come through. The first batch of scientific data, covering images and observations of the Sun’s corona, should be available before the end of January.

Parker Solar Probe’s journey to uncover the Sun’s mysteries through upcoming flybys

The closest it will come will not be the final time during this mission. That will take place on the December 24, 2024, flyby. The spacecraft will make at least 24 flybys of the Sun during the seven years of its mission. Closest to Christmas Eve was scheduled to be March 22, 2025, followed by June 19, 2025, when both were planned to have similar distances from the Sun as the one in December. The Parker Solar Probe will orbit the Sun and may eventually be relocated based on data obtained from these flybys.
The Parker Solar Probe revolutionizes our understanding of the Sun. Studying the Sun from such close proximity affords scientists unprecedented insights into the nature of solar wind, magnetic fields, and solar activity that have direct implications for the space weather events on Earth. A deeper understanding of the Sun’s behavior will ultimately help protect our technology from solar disruptions, and this data is essential to mitigate risks to Earth’s satellites, power grids, and communication systems.
Parker Solar Probe is going to be a historic flyby in space exploration. It will give breakthrough scientific data during this flyby and advance our knowledge of solar phenomena and space weather. With the passage of time, it will unveil more secrets of the Sun, letting us know about one of the most powerful forces in our solar system.
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