On November 6, 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe will execute its final gravity assist maneuver near Venus, passing within 233 miles (376 km) of the planet's surface. This flyby will adjust Parker's trajectory, enabling it to approach within 3.86 million miles of the Sun on December 24, 2024, marking the closest any human-made object has come to the solar surface.
The Parker Solar Probe has made significant contributions to Venus research, particularly through its Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR). During its third flyby on July 11, 2020, WISPR captured images that penetrated Venus' thick cloud cover, revealing the planet's surface glowing in near-infrared light due to its extreme heat, approximately 869 degrees Fahrenheit (465 degrees Celsius).
These observations have raised intriguing questions about the surface composition and geological history of Venus. The upcoming flyby aims to provide further context, as it will cover diverse landforms, allowing scientists to evaluate whether WISPR can identify physical or chemical properties of the surface.
WISPR's findings align with data from NASA's Magellan mission, which mapped Venus' surface using radar from 1990 to 1994. However, some WISPR images show unexpected brightness, suggesting potential variations in surface materials or geological age.
Following the November 6 flyby, Parker Solar Probe will proceed to its closest approach to the Sun, an unprecedented mission objective conceived over 65 years ago. This phase will allow the spacecraft to gather data from regions of the solar atmosphere previously unexplored, including solar eruptions.
On December 24, 2024, Parker will reach perihelion, during which mission control will temporarily lose contact with the spacecraft. A beacon tone will be sent on December 27, 2024, to confirm the probe's status. Parker will continue to orbit the Sun, completing two additional perihelia at the same distance.
The Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living with a Star program, aimed at studying solar phenomena that impact life on Earth. The mission is managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.