NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to make another close pass by the sun, marking its second of three planned encounters with the star’s fiery atmosphere.
In December, the spacecraft made history with its first flyby, coming within 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the sun, closer than any other object in history. This upcoming flyby is scheduled for Saturday, but since it will take place outside of communication range, the mission team won’t receive data until Tuesday afternoon.
The Parker Solar Probe is the fastest spacecraft ever created, and it is expected to reach speeds of 430,000 mph (690,000 kph) at its closest approach to the sun.
Launched in 2018 with the goal of closely studying the sun, the spacecraft has already flown through the sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona. Scientists hope the mission will provide valuable insights into the mystery of why the sun’s outer atmosphere is much hotter than its surface and what causes the solar wind, the continuous flow of charged particles emitted by the sun.