According to NASA’s website, the Parker rover has been orbiting increasingly closer to the Sun since its launch in 2018.
Parker, which has become more ready to come closest to the Sun by carrying out its last planned Venus flyby on November 6, will reach record proximity by passing 6.1 million kilometers from the Sun’s surface on December 24.
Parker, which will lose contact with the Earth due to restrictions in signal transmission when it is closest to the Sun and will not be able to send a signal until December 27, will be positioned in an orbit where it will see the Earth clearly at the end of January 2025, and will be positioned in an orbit where it will be able to see the Earth clearly and will be able to use the scientific information obtained during its closest pass to the Sun. It will start sending data.
The Parker rover will also break its own speed record as it passes close to the Sun, with the temperature of the shields on its outer front expected to rise to 1400 degrees.
During its 17th close orbit, on September 27, 2023, when it approached the Sun at 7.26 million kilometers, Parker achieved the title of the fastest man-made object by moving at a speed exceeding 635 thousand kilometers per hour.
Parker, which was aimed to collect information about the source, magnetic field and plasma dynamics of solar winds, was launched in August 2018.
