November 6, 2024 NASA Parker Solar Probe Perform T The final gravitational maneuver, flying at a distance of only 376 km from the surface of Venus. This maneuver will direct the apparatus to a unique trajectory, allowing it to approach the Sun to a record 6.2 million km on December 24, 2024, which will become the near distance, which the object created by man has ever approached.
Interest in Parker’s projects in Venus increased after a random opening made by Wispr camera, which usually studies the solar wind. During the flight in July 2020, the camera was aimed at Venus to observe changes in the dense clouds of the planet. In an unexpected opening, WisPr was able to catch an image that penetrated through the cloud layer and showed the surface of Venus. The high surface temperature of the planet, which is about 465 ° C, was manifested in the form of an infrared glow, so that scientists were able to see the details hidden from ordinary observations.
Pictures of 2020 and 2021 showed the surface of Venus from a new side, but also gave rise to additional questions. In the current span, it is planned to clarify whether WisPr images can provide information about the chemical composition or age of the planet. Comparison of WISPR data with radar maps of the Magellan mission, which worked in 1990-1994, shows similar dark and bright areas corresponding to various parts of the surface. In some areas, the images from WISPR were unexpectedly bright, which suggests the presence of differences in the composition of the material or evidence of recent volcanic emissions on the surface of Venus.
After the flight, Venus Parker Solar Probe will rush to the sun itself. During the next rapprochement with the Sun, December 24, when the device enters the record distance, the connection with it will be temporarily interrupted. Only on December 27 will a signal about the condition of the apparatus be received. Parker Solar Probe will remain on this trajectory until the end of its mission, having made two more rapprocheces with the sun at the same distance.
Parker Solar Probe is part of the NASA program “Life with a star”, which explores processes in the sun and their influence on the Earth.