NASA’s Speed Demon: Parker Probe’s Closest Sun Encounter at 394,736 Miles per Hour

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe successfully completed its 20th close approach to the Sun on June 30, 2024.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 20th close approach to the Sun on June 30, 2024, matching its own distance record by coming about 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) from the solar surface.

The close approach (known as perihelion) occurred at 3:47 UTC (11:47 p.m. EDT on June 29), with Parker Solar Probe moving 394,736 miles per hour (635,266 kilometers per hour) around the Sun, again matching its own record. On July 2, the spacecraft checked in with mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland (where the spacecraft was also designed and built), with a beacon tone indicating it was in good health and all systems were operating normally.