PSP Encounter 1 Beacon 03

At its closest approach on Nov. 5, called perihelion, Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 213,200 miles per hour, setting a new record for spacecraft speed. Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab received the status beacon from the spacecraft at 4:46 p.m. EST on Nov. 7, 2018. The beacon indicated status “A“ — the best of all four possible status signals, meaning that Parker Solar Probe was operating well with all instruments running and collecting science data and, if there were any minor issues, they were resolved autonomously by the spacecraft. Credit: APL