NASA’s Parker spacecraft makes first close approach to sun0
- From Around the Web, Space
- November 7, 2018
In this July 6, 2018 file photo, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe sits in a clean room at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., after the installation of its heat shield. Parker has made its first close approach to the sun, just 2 1/2 months after liftoff. The spacecraft flew within 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface Monday night, Nov. 5. Its speed topped 213,000 miles (342,000 kilometers) an hour relative to the sun, as it penetrated the outer solar atmosphere, or corona. No spacecraft has ever gotten so close to our star.
