NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make a close approach to Venus on Wednesday, marking the spacecraft’s seventh and final flyby of the planet. This manoeuvre will set the probe on a course for its historic plunge toward the sun, bringing it within 3.8 million miles of our star’s surface — closer than any human-made object has ventured. Nour Raouafi, Project Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, described this approach as “almost landing on a star,” likening it to the significance of the 1969 moon landing.
Venus Flybys as Critical Milestones
The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, relies on gravitational assists from Venus to gradually reduce its distance from the sun, using the planet’s gravitational pull to adjust its orbit. Yanping Guo, Mission Design and Navigation Manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, emphasised that this final Venus flyby is crucial in positioning the probe for its upcoming close encounter with the sun.
While designed for solar exploration, the probe’s instruments have provided valuable data on Venus. During previous flybys, Parker’s Wide-Field Imager (WISPR) managed to capture images through Venus’s thick atmosphere, revealing surface details like continents and plateaus. The probe also recorded emissions from Venus’s nightside, providing insights into its surface composition and temperature, which is around 860 degrees Fahrenheit (460 Celsius).
A Closer Look at Venusian Surface
This week’s flyby will allow scientists to point WISPR toward Venus once more to capture new surface images, including areas with varied landforms. Noam Izenberg, a planetary geologist at APL, noted that this close approach offers a unique chance to study differences in Venus’s surface features, potentially uncovering information about its geology and thermal properties.
Approaching the Sun’s Frontier
On December 24, the Parker Solar Probe will skim the sun’s outer layer at speeds of up to 430,000 miles per hour (692,010 km/h). Although mission control will lose contact during this close pass, engineers hope to receive a signal on December 27 confirming the probe’s success. This achievement could unlock significant insights into the sun’s outer atmosphere, its intense heat, and its magnetic dynamics, further advancing our understanding of solar phenomena.