A NASA spacecraft is about to give astronomers an epic early Christmas gift on December 24, the closest flight ever to the sun, but if you Wondering when exactly this ambitious solar encounter will take place, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
NASA spacecraft, called Parker Solar Probeabout to make a record-breaking close flyby sun On Christmas Eve, it will fly through the star’s outer atmosphere 6:53 AM ET (1153 GMT) and pass within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) star surface Flyover is the final judgment For its part, the Parker Solar Probe has made a series of closer and closer swings toward the star (and made seven flybys of it) Venus) whose mission is to understand the sun like never before.
“No man-made object has ever been so close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory,” said Nick Pinkine, mission operations manager for the Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Maryland. in a statement. “We’re excited to hear back from the spacecraft as it swings around the sun.”
When will NASA’s Parker Solar Probe fly by the sun?
As mentioned above, the Parker Solar Probe’s closest solar flyby will occur at Tuesday, December 24, 6:53 a.m. ET (1153 GMT). At that moment, the spacecraft will reach its closest approach to the sun: 3.8 million miles.
The Christmas Eve flyby will mark Parker’s 22nd close encounter with the sun Since its launch in 2018 (First “contact with the sun” is in 2021). The spacecraft will travel at approximately 430,000 mph (692,000 km/h), an impressive speed achieved through its gravity-assisted acceleration. Seven flybys of Venusmost recently in November.
During its December 24 solar flyby, the Parker Solar Probe will fly across the sun’s surface crownits ultra-hot outer atmosphere to study exactly why the region is so hot and other solar phenomena. The spacecraft has set a new record for the closest man-made object to the sun and has come seven times closer to the star than any other spacecraft.
Can I watch the Parker Solar Probe fly by the sun online?
No, you won’t be able to watch the Parker Solar Probe’s flyby of the sun live online.
Unlike NASA rocket launches and Mars landings, the solar flyby will not be broadcast online or live. Instead, NASA and the Parker Solar Probe mission team are providing updates on the spacecraft’s status online in multiple locations.
You can follow NASA Parker Solar Probe Mission Blog (The agency’s mission website Also a good place to learn more) or at JHUAPL Parker Solar Probe site. You can also find updates from NASA @NASASun X page.
While you won’t be able to watch the Parker Solar Probe flyby live, you can track the spacecraft’s progress online. NASA focuses on the solar system Parker Solar Probe page Allows users to track a spacecraft and see where it is at any given time.
JHUAPL also performed a wonderful demonstration of the Parker Solar Probe’s flyby of the sun Titled “Exploring a Star” This is a great guide for flyovers and missions.
How hot will the Parker Solar Probe get as it flies by the sun?
Christmas Eve might be a great time to roast chestnuts (or toast marshmallows), but scientists at the Parker Solar Probe built their spacecraft to avoid getting burned by the sun.
During the Dec. 24 flyby, the Parker Solar Probe is expected to experience temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (980 degrees Celsius) as it swings near the sun. But the spacecraft can handle the heat.
Parker Solar Probe spacecraft parts and scientific instruments are Protected by heat shield 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide, 4.5 inches (11 centimeters) thick. The shield is made of a type of carbon foam and is located on the sun-facing side of the spacecraft and is designed to withstand temperatures up to 2,500 F (1,377 C).
“A yard behind it, where the main body of the spacecraft is, the temperature is almost room temperature,” JHUAPL mission officials said. wrote in the overview. “All of Parker’s systems need to work perfectly to collect data from a dynamic environment near a star that no spacecraft would dare to sail.”
If you want to know the sun’s maximum temperature, our guide how hot is the sun These questions can be answered.
How long does it take for the Parker Solar Probe to fly by the sun?
The sun flew by quite quickly this Christmas Eve. (What else would you expect from a spacecraft traveling at 430,000 mph?) But for the Parker Solar Probe mission team, the actual encounter will last more than a week.
“This is an example of a bold NASA mission that has done something that others Something that has never been done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe. “We can’t wait to receive the first status updates from the spacecraft and start receiving science data in the coming weeks. “
Here’s a rundown of when Parker Solar Probe will release updates.
Friday, December 20
For Parker’s mission controllers, the encounter was Friday, December 20. That’s when the Parker Solar Probe sent its final signal to Earth, signaling the start of its flyby.
“Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, received Parker’s beacon transmission through NASA’s Deep Space Network Complex in Canberra, Australia. 7:20 p.m. ET Today demonstrated that all spacecraft systems are operating normally,” NASA wrote in an update on December 20.
Space.com has learned that this was the last time NASA and JHUAPL scientists heard the Parker Solar Probe before its flyby.
Tuesday, December 24
It’s Parker Solar Flyby Day. The mission team will lose contact with the spacecraft, but it should perform its programmed maneuvers to conduct the flyby.
During the flyby, please keep an eye out for videos or statements that may be released by NASA and JHUAPL mission team members to commemorate the event.
Friday, December 27
only in Friday, December 27are NASA and JHUAPL mission controllers expecting to hear the first signal from the Parker Solar Probe after its flyby?
Don’t expect too much, like new photos or videos of the sun. The Parker Solar Probe inspection is expected to take place at midnight and will serve as a beacon indicating only that the spacecraft has passed the flyby, including some status of its “overall health.”
Thursday, January 1, 2025
Happy New Year! Parker Solar Probe is expected to send its first telemetry and “housekeeping” data back to its mission operations center at JHUAPL in 2025.
JHUAPL officials told Space.com that the timing of this tag from Parker is variable because it will depend on the probe’s position in its path around the sun. However, the connection here will once again perform a health check on Parker, allowing its mission team to check the health of the spacecraft’s systems and instruments and whether its data recorders were full during the flyby.
According to JHUAPL, the first scientific data (such as images or other observations) are not expected to be downloaded from Parker until the end of January.
What will happen after the Parker Solar Probe flies by the sun?
Parker Solar Probe’s Christmas Eve flyby of the sun may be its mission’s closest flyby, but it won’t be its last.
All told, the $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission aims to make at least 24 close flybys of the sun. The flyby on December 24 was the 22nd.
Parker’s next flyby of the sun is about to begin March 22, 2025. The last scheduled flyby, named Perihelion 24, will be June 19, 2025. Both future flybys are expected to approach the Sun from similar distances to the December 24 event.
JUAPL officials wrote in March and June 2025: “The spacecraft will remain in this orbit for the remainder of its primary mission, completing two additional perihelion flybys at approximately the same distance and speed – record-breaking 430,000 miles (692,018 kilometers) per hour. “Afterwards, the team will decide whether to keep the spacecraft in that orbit or reposition it. “