On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe set a new record by approaching the sun’s surface within barely 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers). Parker’s historic moment can be followed on NASA’s Eyes On The Solar System page.

On Tuesday, December 24, a fully armored NASA spacecraft, barely larger than a tiny car, became the closest man-made object to the sun in history, marking one of humanity’s most amazing space exploration achievements. In addition, the fastest item ever created by humans broke its speed record, and humanity made its closest visit to a star ever.

A Monumental Performance

At 11:53 UTC (6:53 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, December 24, Parker accomplished an unprecedented close flyby of the sun, coming within barely 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of its surface. This was a tremendous accomplishment of exploration. It had come this near to the sun 22 times.

It is the closest man-made object to the sun ever, at 96% of the distance between the sun and Earth, well within Mercury’s orbit at roughly 39%.

The project’s scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dr. Nour Raouafi, compares the importance of this mission to the 1969 moon landing. During a media roundtable at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union on December 10, 2024, he declared, “It’s the moment we have been waiting for for nearly 60 years.” “In 1969, we landed humans on the moon. On Christmas Eve, we embrace a star — our star.”

‘Hyper-Close’

Parker will slice through plasma plumes that are still attached to the sun in what NASA refers to as a “hyper-close regime,” getting close enough to pass inside a solar outburst “like a surfer diving under a crashing ocean wave.”

According to Raouafi, the heat Parker will experience when it is closest to the sun is “nearly 500 times the hottest summer day we can witness on Earth.”

Parker was already the fastest thing ever constructed on Earth, but it will surpass all previous records for speed and distance when it approaches the sun at 430,000 mph (690,000 kph). The mission’s website states that it would take one second to go from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

On December 27, 2024, mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will wait for a beacon tone to certify the probe’s survival after losing touch with it for three days.

On March 22 and June 19, 2025, Parker will make two additional hyper-close passes at the same distance.

A team at Rice University has achieved a significant breakthrough in simulating molecular electron transfer using a trapped-ion quantum simulator. Their research offers fresh insights into the dynamics of electron transfer and could pave the way for innovations in molecular electronics, renewable energy, and cc.

Electron transfer is a critical process underpinning numerous physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. However, the complexity of quantum interactions has long made it a challenging area to study. Conventional computational techniques often struggle to capture the full range of variables influencing electron transfer.

To address these challenges, the researchers developed a programmable quantum system capable of independently controlling key factors such as donor-acceptor energy gaps, electronic and vibronic couplings, and environmental dissipation. Using ions trapped in an ultra-high vacuum and manipulated by laser light, the team demonstrated real-time spin dynamics and measured electron transfer rates.

“This is the first time that this kind of model has been simulated on a physical device while incorporating the role of the environment and tailoring it in a controlled way,” said Guido Pagano, lead author of the study published in Science Advances.

Pagano added, “It represents a significant leap forward in our ability to use quantum simulators to investigate models and regimes relevant to chemistry and biology. By harnessing the power of quantum simulation, we hope to explore scenarios currently inaccessible to classical computational methods.”

Through precise engineering of tunable dissipation and programmable quantum systems, the researchers explored both adiabatic and nonadiabatic regimes of electron transfer. The experiment not only illuminated how quantum effects function under diverse conditions but also identified optimal parameters for electron transfer.

The team emphasized that their findings bridge a critical gap between theoretical predictions and experimental verification. By offering a tunable framework to investigate quantum processes in complex systems, their work could lead to groundbreaking advancements in renewable energy technologies, molecular electronics, and the development of novel materials.

“This experiment is a promising first step toward understanding how quantum effects influence energy transport, particularly in biological systems like photosynthetic complexes,” said Jose N. Onuchic, study co-author. “The insights gained could inspire the design of more efficient light-harvesting materials.”

The next mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed by a month due to delays in completing a new spacecraft. This decision will extend the stay of some astronauts aboard the ISS, including two who have been there since June.

NASA announced on December 17 that the Crew-10 mission, initially scheduled for February, is now set to launch no earlier than late March. The delay stems from the need for additional time to finish the fabrication, assembly, testing, and integration of a new Crew Dragon capsule.

Crafting the New Dragon Capsule

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager. He commended SpaceX’s efforts to expand the Dragon fleet and the flexibility of the ISS crew in accommodating the delay.

The new Crew Dragon will be the fifth in SpaceX’s lineup of crewed spacecraft, complementing its three cargo Dragon vehicles. According to Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s Dragon Mission Management Director, the spacecraft was near completion as of July and was undergoing final work at SpaceX’s California facility. It is now expected to arrive in Florida for final preparations in January.

While NASA did not specify the exact reasons for the delay, it considered other options, including using an existing Crew Dragon or making adjustments to the launch manifest, before opting for the delay. Existing capsules, including Freedom, currently at the ISS, and Endeavour and Resilience, which recently returned from other missions, were not available for a February launch.

Crew Adjustments and Extended ISS Stay

The Crew-10 mission will proceed with its planned roster: Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from JAXA, and Kirill Peskov from Roscosmos.

The delay has implications for the Crew-9 mission, launched in late September with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They were joined by NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the station since June after arriving on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

Originally, Williams and Wilmore were scheduled to stay for just over a week, but their time on the ISS will now extend to about 10 months. NASA had earlier decided to return the uncrewed Starliner to Earth due to concerns with its thrusters.

Despite the delay, NASA emphasizes that Williams and Wilmore are not “stranded” as they can return to Earth in an emergency. Their extended stay is tied to the decision to use the new Crew Dragon for the upcoming mission, as preparing another vehicle was deemed impractical.

Looking Ahead

Assuming the Crew-10 launch proceeds in late March, the Crew-9 spacecraft is expected to return to Earth in early April after a handover period. This delay underscores the complexity of preparing new spacecraft while ensuring the safety and readiness of all missions.

As the new Crew Dragon nears completion, SpaceX and NASA remain focused on maintaining seamless operations aboard the ISS and advancing human space exploration.