NASA spacecraft reveals new news after first flight around the Sun
The Parker probe sent back to Earth 17 Gb of scientific data, part of which was obtained from the first flight.
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The Parker Solar Probe approaches the Sun to solve mysteries about the star. |
The Parker Solar Probe successfully completed its first orbit around the Sun and is now on its next orbit. The spacecraft is scheduled to orbit the star 24 times, using the gravitational pull of Venus to gradually narrow its orbit.
Parker launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on August 12, 2018. The spacecraft made its first close approach to the Sun on November 5, 2018, when it was 24 million kilometers away. On January 19, it reached its farthest point from the Sun in its orbit, called aphelion.
The spacecraft has sent back 17 gigabytes of scientific data from its first flight, NASA said. It will transmit all the information it has collected by April.
"The first flight was great and brought a lot of new information. We learned a lot about how the spacecraft works and reacts to the solar environment. I'm proud that the team's predictions were so accurate," said Andy Driesman, Parker Solar Probe project manager and a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
"We always say we don't know what to expect until we see the data. The data we receive suggests many new things that we have not observed before. The Parker Probe is on a mission to explore the mysteries of the Sun," said scientist Nour Raouafi.
Parker broke the record for closest approach to the Sun, set by Helios 2 in 1976. It also set a new speed record for a man-made object, reaching more than 343,000 km/h. These records will continue to change as Parker continues its mission.
Now, in preparation for the second flight, engineers are deleting the data on board. This is the data that has been transmitted back to Earth. They are also sending updates on the spacecraft’s location, orientation, and instructions for the next month or so.