NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Set for Historic Final Venus Flyby, Paving the Way for Closest Ever Solar Encounter.

 

Left: WISPR images of Venus’ nightside from Parker Solar Probe’s fourth flyby, showing near-infrared emissions from the surface, where lighter shades represent warmer temperatures. Right: A combined radar mosaic from NASA’s Magellan mission, with brightness indicating surface smoothness (dark to light) and colors representing elevation (blue to red).

November 5, 2024 — On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will complete a crucial maneuver on its journey to the Sun, executing its final gravity assist flyby of Venus. Passing within just 233 miles (376 kilometers) of Venus’ scorching surface, the spacecraft will adjust its trajectory, bringing it to within an unprecedented 3.86 million miles of the Sun’s surface on December 24, 2024 — the closest any human-made object has ever come to our star.

The Parker Solar Probe’s Venus flybys have proven invaluable for both solar and planetary science. During its third flyby in July 2020, Parker’s Wide-Field Imager (WISPR), originally designed to study the solar wind, made an unexpected discovery. Turning WISPR toward Venus for the first time, scientists were amazed to see the spacecraft’s instruments peer through Venus’ thick cloud cover and capture images of the planet’s surface below, revealing new insights into its geology.

“The WISPR cameras can see through the clouds to the surface of Venus, which glows in the near-infrared because it’s so hot,” said Noam Izenberg, a space scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which manages the Parker mission.

With Venus’ surface scorching at nearly 869°F (465°C), the heat radiates through the thick clouds, and WISPR’s data—capturing visible and near-infrared light—has allowed scientists to glimpse surface features in unprecedented detail. The 2020 and 2021 flybys uncovered new surface patterns, with some areas appearing unexpectedly brighter, sparking further questions about the composition of Venus’ surface.

The upcoming November 6 flyby will help scientists answer these questions. By passing over various landforms, Parker will provide new context to evaluate whether WISPR’s data could reveal chemical or physical differences in Venus’ surface—such as variations in age or differences in material composition. This final flyby will provide key information, deepening our understanding of Venus’ complex and inhospitable surface.

Following the flyby, Parker will continue its journey toward the Sun, with its closest approach, or perihelion, set for December 24, 2024. At that point, Parker will come within just 3.86 million miles of the Sun’s surface, making history as the closest any spacecraft has ever come to a star. This will mark the culmination of a mission first conceived more than 65 years ago.

“Parker Solar Probe’s journey will allow us to explore regions of space never before studied, passing through plumes of plasma directly connected to the Sun,” said Adam Szabo, project scientist for Parker at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “This is a major engineering accomplishment, and the data we will gather will transform our understanding of the Sun and its influence on the solar system.”

During this ultra-close pass, Parker will be so close to the Sun that it will pass through solar eruptions and solar wind streams, providing critical data about the Sun’s corona and how solar phenomena affect space weather that can impact Earth. Parker will remain in this new orbit for the rest of its mission, completing two additional perihelion passages at the same distance.

The Parker Solar Probe mission is part of NASA’s Living with a Star program, designed to explore the Sun-Earth system and its effects on our planet. Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and operated by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Parker Solar Probe has already provided groundbreaking data, and its final approach to the Sun will unlock even more secrets of our star.

Key Dates:

• Nov. 6, 2024: Parker Solar Probe completes its final Venus flyby.

• Dec. 24, 2024: Parker Solar Probe makes its closest approach to the Sun.

• Dec. 27, 2024: Parker Solar Probe will send a beacon signal confirming its health and mission success.

This mission continues to push the boundaries of space exploration, marking another milestone in humanity’s quest to understand the Sun and its profound impact on our world.