A Nasa spacecraft has survived the closest-ever approach to the Sun. Scientists got a signal from the Parker Solar Probe just before midnight EST on Thursday (05:00 GMT on Friday) after it had been out of communication for several days during its burning-hot fly-by.
Nasa said the probe was “safe” and operating normally after it passed just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from the solar surface. The probe plunged into our star’s outer atmosphere on Christmas Eve, enduring brutal temperatures and extreme radiation in a quest to better our understanding of how the Sun works.
Nasa then waited nervously for a signal, which had been expected at 05:00 GMT on 28 December. According to the Nasa website, the spacecraft moved at up to 430,000 mph (692,000 kph) and endured temperatures of up to 1,800F (980C).
“This close-up study of the Sun allows Parker Solar Probe to take measurements that will help scientists better understand how material in this region gets heated to millions of degrees, trace the origin of the solar wind – a continuous flow of material escaping the Sun-and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed,” the agency said.
Dr Nicola Fox, NASA’s head of science, previously said to BBC News: “For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don’t experience the atmosphere of a place until you go [and] visit it. And so we can’t really experience our star’s atmosphere unless we fly through it.”.
