The US space agency s probe revealed distinctive surface features such as continental regions, plains, and plateaus, as well as a luminescent halo of oxygen in the atmosphere that surrounds Venus.
Parker Solar Probe Captures its First Images of Venus Surface in Visible Light, Confirmed technology.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from technology.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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On February 20, 2021, the probe did its fourth close flyby of Venus, getting a gravity assist from the planet to continue its study of the sun. Four days after the flyby, NASA shared a gorgeous image of Venus from an exciting and mysterious flyby that took place in July 2020.
As NASA notes in its announcement, the Parker Solar Probe is focused on studying our star, but Venus is playing an important role in its lifecycle. Over the course of its seven-year mission, Parker will make seven flybys, taking advantage of Venus gravity to guide the probe s orbit. Though it s focused on the sun and studying solar winds, Parker s Wide-field Imager (WISPR) is capturing impressive images of the inner solar system along the way.
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NASA expected its Parker Solar Probe to reveal new insights into the sun the craft literally has solar in its name.
What it didn t expect was for Parker to snap a picture of the surface of Venus that may change what we thought we knew about the planet or possibly the probe itself.
Parker s Partner
The Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 with the ambitious mission of getting closer to the sun than any craft before it. From that unprecedented vantage point, it could collect data that would expand our understanding of the star and its impact on Earth.