Parker Solar Probe

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP or Parker Probe, earlier known as the Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, and Solar Probe+) is a spacecraft launched in 2018 to observe the corona of the Sun from near the corona's outer reaches. It is in an eccentric solar orbit which has been tweaked through successive Venus flybys, reducing the perihelion. In January 2021, the probe passed closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, roughly 0.1 AU, and in December 2024, it reached its goal, passing within roughly 0.05 AU of the Sun's surface. Its mission continues this orbit, due to end in December 2025, but the spacecraft remains operational and with funding, the mission could be extended. The probe will remain in its current orbit with no possibility of significant further adjustment because this orbit does not near Venus. Probe instruments:

• SWEAP - solar wind electrons alphas and protons investigation.
• SPC - solar probe cup.
• SPAN - solar probe analyzers.
• WISPR - wide-field imager for solar probe.
• FIELDS - electromagnetic fields investigation.
• IS☉IS-EPI - integrated science investigation of the Sun energetic particle instruments.

Close approaches during the mission (distances from the center of the Sun):

(Another source cited the corona as extending twice that far, clearly beyond the Parker Probe's nearest encounters.)