Current status of the Parker Solar Probe.

The current heat shield temperature is 695°C. At perihelion, the temperature will reach close to 1000°C.

See this thread at https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/113705015492853135 for info on the previous perihelion and some technical data on the PSP.

https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
2/n

The graphic below shows the size of the Sun, the distance between the Sun and the Parker Solar probe and the edge of the Corona, the Sun's "atmosphere." The edge is known as the Alfvén surface.

The Parker Solar Probe first penetrated the Sun's Corona during its 8th flyby on April 28, 2021, at 18.8 solar radii (13 million km) above the solar surface.

Today's encounter and the last one are at less than half that distance.

Let's hope it catches a solar flare or CME ☀️

https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=173
3/n

The Parker Solar Probe actually ploughed thru a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), the powerful explosion of solar magnetic fields and plasma, on Sep 5, 2022, a day before perihelion #13.

On that day, a CME erupted right in front of it, when it was ~15 solar radii from the Sun. The CME becomes visible at 14 sec into the video. PSP first skirted along the CME's flank, then passed into it, passed behind the leading edge of the explosion and exited out the other side.
😲😎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF_e5eYgJ3Y
4/n

The Parker Solar Probe checked in today with mission control at JHUAPL in Laurel, Maryland, with a beacon tone indicating that all systems are healthy after completing its 23rd close approach of the Sun on March 22, at 22:42 UTC.

Max speed: 692,000 km/h
Distance from the Sun's surface: 6.1 million km.

Additional spacecraft health data and science data will be downloaded after March 27.
😎
https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=210
5/n

The Parker Solar Probe team from NASA, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and more than 40 other partner organizations has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Robert J. Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA).

The trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America ..."

Below is a select list of recipients of the trophy since 1911.

Congratulations :mastodance:

https://hub.jhu.edu/2025/03/25/parker-solar-probe-collier-trophy/
6/n

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) still holds the record for the fastest spacecraft ever; its nearest rival, the Helios-2 Solar Probe, is not even close.

For comparison, the table below shows speeds for various spacecraft, planets and satellites. Speeds are Sun-centric unless otherwise noted.

#Parker #ParkerSolarProbe
7/n

The NASA Parker Solar Probe, 6 days after its 23rd close approach of the Sun, is now transmitting detailed spacecraft status to Earth via the 34 meter antenna of station 35 at the DSN site in Canberra.

Transmit/Receive band: X (~8 GHz)
Downlink data rate: 160.2 bps

Science data will be downloaded in a few days over the higher rate Ka-band link using the probe's 0.6-meter High Gain Antenna (HGA) dish, at data rates of 167 kbps and higher.

https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/dsn-now/dsn.html
#Parker #ParkerSolarProbe
8/n

Interestingly, the NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft is downloading data to Earth at the same 160 bps rate over X-band as the Parker Solar Probe, but using the larger 70m dish at DSN Madrid and a larger 3.7m antenna on the spacecraft.

However Voyager 1 is 24.9 billion km from Madrid, 157 times farther then the Parker Solar Probe.

Receive power = 10^-22 kW for both spacecraft.

9/n

The NASA Parker Solar Probe, 9 days after its 23rd close approach of the Sun, is now transmitting detailed spacecraft status and science data to Earth via the 34 meter antenna of station 35 at the DSN site in Canberra.

Transmit/Receive band: Ka
Downlink data rate: 312.5 kbps
📡 🛰️
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/dsn-now/dsn.html
10/n