"We are preparing to make history": the world's fastest probe announced a record-breaking flyby of the Sun on Christmas Eve

The world's fastest probe, the Parker Solar Probe, announced a record-breaking flyby of the Sun on Christmas Eve. NASA spacecraft is "preparing to make history"

On December 24, the probe will fly within 6.1 million kilometers above the surface of the hot star at a tremendous speed of 690,000 km/h. Parker will break its own records for speed and closest contact with the Sun, Space writes.

"We are preparing to make history. The Parker Solar Probe is opening our eyes to a new reality about our star," said mission scientist Noor Ravafi, adding that it will take "decades to make sense" of the data sent home by the probe.

The Parker Solar Probe, about the size of a small car, completed its final orbit of Venus last month. This has put the spacecraft on a path that will help it get closer to the Sun than any human-made object before, scientists say.

On Dec. 24, the solar probe is expected to cut through plumes of plasma still lingering on the Sun and even fly through a solar eruption site, experts say.

According to scientists, in October, the Sun reached the most violent phase of its 11-year cycle, which means that the spacecraft will soon be able to study powerful solar flares that occur on top of each other, providing scientists with detailed data on the chaotic workings of our star.

The Parker probe's feat will take place on the morning of December 24, but there will be no communication with it at that time, experts say. Shortly before and after the next approach - on December 21 and 27 - scientists will be looking for a sound signal from the probe to confirm its health.

If all goes according to plan, the first images from the encounter could be available as soon as the New Year arrives, with scientific data coming a few weeks after that, said Noor Rawafi.

Scientists emphasize that since its launch in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has helped decipher long-standing mysteries about our star, the main one being how its rarefied outer atmosphere, the corona, becomes hundreds of times hotter the further it extends from the Sun's surface.

In 2022, the probe's accidental alignment with Europe's Solar Orbiter spacecraft gave scientists a rare opportunity to study the same section of the solar wind, revealing how energy-filled plasma waves accelerate the solar wind to its unexpectedly high speeds, experts say.

Parker has also provided the first convincing evidence of a long-theorized but elusive dust-free zone around the Sun, which is created by sunlight heating cosmic dust to high temperatures and turning it into gas.

The developers emphasize that the Parker Solar Probe has been performing its tasks perfectly for six years now, as it is equipped with everything it needs, including a special heat shield and an autonomous system that protects the probe from the Sun's "wrath" even if it is aimed at our star.

During the closest approach to the Sun, the front of the heat shield will reach a sizzling 982 degrees Celsius. The mission team is confident that the spacecraft and its instruments can withstand temperatures of up to 1371 degrees Celsius.

"It's really great to see all the science that's been made possible because we've been well prepared," said Elizabeth Congdon, lead engineer for the probe's thermal protection system. A specially designed white coating will reflect most of the heat back into space so that the probe itself will observe a relatively comfortable temperature, she added.

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