When will we know if NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived ‘touching’ the sun?

An illustration showing the Parker Solar Probe passing by the sun. NASA

On December 24, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe attempted to ‘touch’ the sun and emerge unscathed.

The closest approach ever made by a human-made object to our nearest star saw the spacecraft come within 3.8 million miles of its seething, infernal surface.

At the same time, the spacecraft reached the fastest speed ever travelled by a human-made object: 430,000 mph (692,017 kmh) — or about 28,600 time faster than when you’re puttering along in a 15 mph zone.

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Scientists sent the Parker Solar Probe into the sun’s outer atmosphere — known as the corona — in a bid to gather data that could lead to more accurate predictions of space weather events, improved protection of electronic systems, and, perhaps most tantalizingly of all, a deeper understanding of fundamental physics and solar processes.

“This mission truly marks humanity’s first visit to a star that will have implications not just here on Earth, but how we better understand our universe,” Thomas Zurbuchen, the then associate administrator of NASA’s science mission directorate, said in 2018 when the probe launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

But the big question right now is: Did the Parker Solar Probe survive its close encounter with the sun?

At the current time, NASA has no contact with the probe as the sun’s position is obscuring the signal pathway between it and Earth, preventing direct communication. Additionally, the probe’s extreme proximity to the sun during its closest approach created an environment of intense heat and radiation that interferes with normal communication.

The communication blackout is expected and should be temporary, so there’s no cause for concern.

Scientists, as well as interested folks around the world following the progress of the Parker Solar Probe mission, are now nervously waiting to see if the spacecraft survived and is continuing to operate normally. The answer should come some time on Friday, December 27.

For updates on the mission, check NASA’s X account, as news on whether the probe has reestablished communications with Earth will drop their first.

The Parker Solar Probe has already hurtled past the sun 21 times since its first close encounter in 2021. Two years ago, it sent back astonishing imagery captured as it flew through an eruption from the sun, giving scientists a close-up look at space weather, which is powerful enough to affect technology on Earth.