NASA Parker probe approached the Sun at a distance of less than 9.6 million km

Last week, NASA's Parker Solar Probe returned close to the Sun. The distance between the spacecraft and

the star has shrunk to less than 9.6 million km.

What is known

Parker allows scientists to learn more about the nature of the processes that take place on the Sun. Recently, the spacecraft was able to see how the solar wind is born.

The probe must approach the Sun 24 times in the timemission that began five years ago. Launched in 2018, the spacecraft is successfully helping to collect data for space weather forecasting.

Last week, Parker became close for the 16th time.the star around which our planet revolves. The distance between them has been reduced to 9.6 million km. The temperature of the Sun's crust reaches 1 million degrees Celsius. Despite this, the probe's instruments operate normally at temperatures of about 30 degrees Celsius thanks to the 11.4 cm thick heat shield.