Subject: Fun in the Sun
Looking forward to the new data that should be coming back soon. Wonder how intense the radiation is and the gravity is at 3.8M miles from the surface and see some super close-ups of sun spots.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkers...

Parker Solar Probe Begins Record-Setting Closest Approach to the Sun

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is in good health and operating normally as it speeds toward its closest-ever flight around the Sun on Christmas Eve.

Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, received a beacon transmission from Parker, through NASA’s Deep Space Network complex in Canberra, Australia, at 7:20 p.m. EST today indicating all spacecraft systems were operating normally.

“This is one example of NASA’s bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe,” said Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We can’t wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks.”

Parker is now on course to fly just 3.8 million miles (around 6.1 million kilometers) from the surface of the Sun on Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 6:53 a.m. EST. During closest approach, or perihelion, mission operations will be out of contact with the spacecraft, and Parker will transmit another beacon tone on Friday, Dec. 27, to confirm its health following the close flyby.

... more at link