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sonda solar

Parker Solar Probe

A NASA probe designed to study the solar corona, energy flow, and solar-wind acceleration through close approaches to the Sun.

Active Verified 2026-10-02

Overview

Nature and purpose

Parker Solar Probe, also called PSP in a NASA reference, is a spacecraft devoted to studying the Sun. NASA Science says it was designed to approach to within about 4 million miles—approximately 6.5 million kilometres—of the solar surface. Its stated aims include tracing the flow of energy, studying the heating of the solar corona, and exploring what accelerates the solar wind. The supplied sources describe these aims but do not detail the instruments used or provide specific scientific findings.

Trajectory and published figures

NASA information explains that the probe uses gravity assists at Venus to help draw its orbit closer to the Sun. Unlike assists intended to increase speed, the manoeuvre described here slows the spacecraft so that it can pass nearer to the Sun. The source says the mission will perform seven Venus gravity assists, but does not state how many had been completed at the time covered by that information.

Another NASA reference reports that during its fifth perihelion Parker Solar Probe flew within 11.6 million miles of the solar surface and reached a top speed of about 244,225 miles per hour. That page describes it as the human-made object that had come closest to the Sun and as the fastest human-made object. The supplied excerpt does not give a date for that perihelion.

Scope and limits of the evidence

The design figure of about 6.5 million kilometres and the distance given for the fifth perihelion, 11.6 million miles, appear in different contexts. The evidence does not explain how they relate or allow them to be treated as measurements of the same encounter. Nor is there enough information here to establish the probe’s current operational status, launch date, mass, or dimensions. This profile therefore records only the purposes, manoeuvres, and figures expressly attributed to Parker Solar Probe in the supplied references.

Essential data

Key fact
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Sources and references

  1. JPL Missions NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  2. Missions NASA
  3. ESA - Einstein Probe factsheet European Space Agency
  4. NASA SP-6503 Introduction to the Derivation of Mission Requirements Profiles NASA
  5. Science Missions - NASA Science NASA
  6. Huygens Probe - NASA Science NASA
  7. Parker Solar Probe NASA
  8. Mission Overview - NASA Science NASA
  9. A to Z of NASA Missions - NASA NASA
  10. Parker Solar Probe - NASA NASA
  11. 10 Things to Know About Parker Solar Probe - NASA Science NASA
  12. REQ-002, L2 Mission Requirements Document - Explorer NASA
  13. Mission Assurance Guidelines for A-D Mission Risk Classes NASA
  14. The Mission - Parker Solar Probe NASA
  15. Table of Contents - NODIS Library - NASA NASA
  16. SLS Mission Planner's Guide 2018-12-19.pdf - Explorer NASA
  17. Documents Applicable to All Missions - Deep Space Network NASA
  18. STANDARD PI-LED MISSION TEMPLATE NASA