Join Dr. Nour Raouafi as he shares the journey of the Parker Solar Probe and how the data collected impacts us on Earth. The Parker Solar Probe will get as close as 3.8 million miles from the solar surface, that almost 4% of the Sun-Earth distance (i.e., 93 million miles) and on Jan. 21, the spacecraft transmitted a “tone one,” indicating all systems were healthy and operating normally after the spacecraft’s close approach to the Sun and heading into the final stretch of the solar encounter, which runs through Jan. 23.

Now just over two years into its seven-year mission, the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will eventually travel within 4 million miles of the Sun’s surface. It is primarily an exploration mission, and the data returned so far is a treasure trove that holds the potential for breakthrough discoveries. Parker is breaking new boundaries of space exploration by flying halfway between Mercury and the Sun. It is writing a new chapter of space research by revolutionizing our understanding of this mysterious region by answering long-standing questions that puzzled scientists for decades: how the solar wind plasma is heated and accelerated and solar energetic particles accelerated and transported throughout the heliosphere. The analyses of science data show new phenomena and plasma properties not seen before in the solar wind. Tune in to learn about the major, mystifying discoveries that have been made so far, and the upcoming solar encounters.