Parker Solar Probe Trajectory

Parker solar probe orbit.

Parker solar probe trajectory.

This will be the probe s sixth flyby of the sun since it was launched in 2018. Nasa s parker solar probe is set to break a record tomorrow becoming the closest ever human made object to the sun. The cost of the project is us 1 5 billion. Parker solar probe will use seven venus flybys over nearly seven years to gradually shrink its orbit around the sun coming as close as 3 83 million miles and 6 16 million kilometers to the sun well within the orbit of mercury and about seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before.

The size of the orbit will be decreased over nearly seven years using seven venus flybys. The parker solar probe is a nasa robotic spacecraft launched in 2018 with the mission of making observations of the outer corona of the sun. Solar probe plus will orbit the sun 24 times gradually walking in toward the sun with each pass. Johns hopkins university applied physics laboratory designed and built the spacecraft.

The probe will break its own previous record coming within 8 4 million miles. The project was announced in the fiscal 2009 budget year. It will approach to within 9 86 solar radii from the center of the sun and by 2025 will travel at closest approach as fast as 690 000 km h or 0 064 the speed of light.