NASA probe to transmit first data after record-breaking approach to the Sun already this month

The new year started with good news for the NASA space agency, as the Parker Solar Probe boasted historic event. Mission control at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received the first maintenance data confirming that the spacecraft's systems and scientific instruments are "healthy and operating normally" after its historic rendezvous with the Sun.

According to NASA's statement, the latest telemetry transmission also confirms that Parker successfully executed the commands programmed into its onboard computers and that its scientific instruments worked well during the flyby. This means that the probe collected valuable data about the Sun as it approached the surface of our star within a record 6.1 million kilometers, Space.com writes.

"All is looking good with the spacecraft systems and instrument operations. It really is a remarkable spacecraft!" said Parker Solar Probe Mission Director Michael Buckley.

"While Parker Solar Probe was closer to the sun than any other human-made object in history, it operated just as it was designed to do, and made observations that no one has been able to make before," said Helene Winters, program manager for the Parker Solar Probe mission.

The probe is due to transmit its collected scientific data later this month when its most powerful onboard antenna is better aligned with the Earth for higher speed communications, scientists say.

"The data that will come down from the spacecraft will be fresh information about a place that we, as humanity, have never been. It's an amazing accomplishment," said Joe Westlake, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Scientists hope that Parker's data will help them solve long-standing mysteries about our Sun, such as why its tenuous outer atmosphere, the corona, gets hundreds of times hotter the further it extends from the surface of the hot star.

"The data is so important for the science community because it gives us another vantage point. By getting firsthand accounts of what's happening in the solar atmosphere, Parker Solar Probe has revolutionized our understanding of the sun," Kelly Korreck, a solar physicist at NASA headquarters, said in a statement.

On December 24, the NASA probe made history by flying closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before. It flew 6.1 million kilometers above the surface of the hot star at a tremendous speed of 69,000 km/h. In doing so, Parker broke two records at once: speed and closest contact with the Sun.

During this risky encounter, the scientists had no contact with the probe. However, on December 26, they received the long-awaited beacon signal, indicating that the spacecraft had survived the test and was working normally.

In 2025, the Parker probe is scheduled to make two more passes at approximately the same speed and distance from the Sun - on March 22 and June 19, according to scientists.

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