The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to study the Sun's atmosphere and will get closer than any other spacecraft has before to the celestial object, reports Ashley Strickland for … "But we would not miss the opportunity to gather science data and provide unique insights into a mysterious planet such as Venus. These images from XRT were captured on Jan. 17, when Parker Solar Probe was closest to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe was clocked at over 330,000 miles per hour as it zipped through the sun's outer atmosphere. NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched a year ago on a mission to touch the sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has started its eighth science-gathering solar encounter, putting it one-third of the way through its planned journey of 24 progressively closer loops around the Sun. Not only is Parker breaking records for proximity to the Sun, it is also setting new speed records for a spacecraft. During one of these Venusian flybys on July 11, 2020, the probe collected evidence that Venus' upper atmosphere goes through some unusual changes that are influenced by the solar cycle, or our sun's 11-year activity cycle. NASA's Parker Solar Probe. (CNN)The Parker Solar Probe is on a mission to study the sun, but it keeps discovering new, intriguing things about our mysterious planetary neighbor Venus. Parker Solar Probe is named for Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the solar wind — the constant outflow of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun — in 1958. Parker Solar Probe is named for Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the solar wind — the constant outflow of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun — in 1958. On the recent flyby, it achieved 375,000km/h. During the third Venus flyby, Parker Solar Probe's FIELDS instrument, which measures electric and magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere, detected a natural radio signal at a low frequency. Collinson, a Venusian expert who has studied data from previous missions to the planet, thought the signal seemed familiar. Dr. Eugene Parker, mission namesake. Scientists can use XRT’s images with Parker Solar Probe’s direct measurements of the environment around the Sun to better understand how the Sun’s corona could drive changes in the space environment farther away from the Sun. Taking an invention from idea to the marketplace, The judo class that put a seven-year-old in a coma, BBC Culture: TV shows that reveal the real France. Venus is instrumental to the probe's success. 5. Just weeks after making the closest ever flyby of the Sun, Nasa's Parker Solar Probe is sending back its data. Parker Solar Probe launched in August 2018 for a seven-year mission studying the sun by flying deeper into its outer atmosphere, called the corona, than any previous spacecraft has. The Venusian ionosphere leaks energized gas into space, which suggests its atmosphere has changed over time. During the July flyby nearly 30 years later, data on the ionosphere was gathered six months after the sun's solar minimum. Its inhospitable surface has blazing temperatures that can melt lead. It has passed only 24 million kilometers from the … Read about our approach to external linking. None are closer than Parker Solar Probe, which passed just 8.4 million miles (13.5 million kilometers) from the Sun’s surface while flying at 289,932 miles per hour on Jan 17. The fastest spacecraft ever built has nearly touched the sun. With cutting-edge scientific instruments to measure the environment around the spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe has completed three of 24 planned passes through never-before-explored parts of the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona. He previously worked on the Galileo orbiter, which studied Jupiter and its moons from 1995 to 2003. Read about our approach to external linking. Parker makes use of a heat shield known as the Thermal Protection System, which is 8 feet in diameter and 4.5 inches thick. During its first flyby, the space probe has already collected several gigabytes of data. On its final three orbits, Parker Solar Probe will fly to within 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface—more than seven times closer than the current record holder for a close solar pass: the Helios 2 spacecraft. Since that fiery early morning liftoff with the mission's namesake, Eugene Parker, in attendance, the probe …