Interesting Global News

NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe is poised to make its closest-ever approach of the Sun on Christmas Eve, a record-setting 3.8 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) from the surface.

Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to deepen scientific understanding of our star and help forecast space-weather events that can affect life on Earth. Its closest approach to date will happen on Tuesday, December 24, at 6:53 am (11:53 GMT). If the distance between Earth and the Sun is the equivalent to the length of an American football field, the spacecraft would be about four yards (meters) from the end zone at that point.

"This is one example of NASA's bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe," said Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist, in a statement. "We can't wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks."

During this closest approach -- known as perihelion -- mission teams will lose direct contact with Parker, relying on a "beacon tone" this Friday to confirm the spacecraft's status. Although the heat shield will endure scorching temperatures of about 1,600 to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (870 to 930 degrees Celsius), the probe's internal instruments will remain near room temperature -- around 85F (29C) -- as it explores the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona.

Not only will the temperatures be extreme, but Parker will also be moving at a blistering pace of around 430,000 mph (690,000 kph), fast enough to fly from the US capital Washington to Tokyo in under a minute.