VOA科学技术2025--NASA Says Spacecraft Made Closest-Ever Pass to Sun

NASA says a spacecraft that has been examining the sun's outermost¹ atmosphere recently got closer to our Earth's star than any past explorer has.

The American space agency announced its Parker Solar Probe passed within 6.1 million kilometers of the sun's outer corona² on December 24. Mission leaders established communication with the spacecraft after the operation and said the orbiter was safe.

NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe in August 2018. Its mission is to study the sun's powerful corona and solar wind. Solar wind is created by a continuous flow of charged particles, called plasma³, into space from the corona.

In 2021, NASA announced the orbiter had passed into the solar atmosphere for the first time. Researchers said at the time, the spacecraft had successfully "touched" the sun. Parker was believed to be about 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it crossed over into the sun's outer atmosphere.

In a statement, NASA's Associate Administrator⁴ Nicky Fox praised the spacecraft's latest pass-by of the sun. "Flying this close to the sun is a historic moment in humanity's first mission to a star," she said. Fox leads the agency's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Parker Solar Probe is believed to have traveled at speeds up to 692,000 kilometers per hour during the mission. NASA said this was "faster than any human-made object has ever moved."

Fox said she hopes data collected by the spacecraft can help scientists better understand how the sun behaves and influences other elements in our solar system and beyond. "By studying the sun up-close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space."

Fox added that such studies can provide valuable information "about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet."

NASA's statement noted⁵ the agency's earlier preparation and operations were all leading up to the latest mission. To help it get into the right position, the Parker Solar Probe received assistance from several flybys of the planet Venus. The last flyby happened on November 6, 2024.

These gravitational assists had put the spacecraft "an ideal distance" from the sun every three months, NASA explained. This distance was "close enough to study our sun's mysterious processes," but not "to become overwhelmed by the sun's heat and damaging radiation."

Developers of the spacecraft say it was built with a shield made with carbon material to protect it from the extreme heat released by the sun's corona. The shield was designed to survive temperatures reaching 1,400 degrees Celsius⁶. NASA says the data-gathering instruments are placed behind the shield.

Nour Rawafi is the project scientist for Parker Solar Probe at NASA's Johns Hopkins Applied⁷ Physics Laboratory in Maryland. His team designed, built, and operates the spacecraft. He said Parker had performed as planned although it operates in "one of the most extreme environments in space."

Rawafi added that the mission had brought "a new golden era of space exploration, bringing us closer than ever to unlocking the sun's deepest and most enduring mysteries."

Dr. Joseph Westlake is director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, the part of the agency that studies the sun. Westlake noted that his team is preparing for more flybys in the future and hopes to capture more valuable data. Already, flybys of Venus have gathered information about the natural radio waves coming from Venus.

In 2023, scientists announced they had learned new information about solar wind from data collected by Parker. Data showed that solar wind can reach speeds up to 1.6 million kilometers per hour. Solar wind forms a large magnetic barrier known as the heliosphere. It protects Earth and other planets from the continuous flow of high-energy particles from the sun's corona.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and NASA.

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Words in This Story

corona - n. the outer atmosphere of a star, such as the sun

impact - n. the effect that a person, event or situation has on someone or something

habitable - adj. able to support life

flyby -n. a term used by space agencies to describe when a spacecraft uses the gravity of a planet to increase its speed or change direction

overwhelm - v. to produce an effect that is too strong or extreme

shield - n. a large, flat object used for protection against dangerous or unpleasant things

golden era - n. a period during which something or someone was particularly successful, good or special

endure - v. to make it through a difficult time or situation

heliophysics - n. relating to an area of space that is influenced by the sun or solar wind

delve⁸ - v. to examine something in detail to find information

1 outermost   

adj.最外面的，远离中心的

参考例句：

• He fired and hit the outermost ring of the target.他开枪射中了靶子的最外一环。
• The outermost electron is shielded from the nucleus.原子核对最外层电子的作用受到屏蔽。

2 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

3 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。