Nasa's Parker Solar Probe attempts closest ever approach to Sun
www.bbc.com
The hope is the probe could help us to better understand how the Sun works.
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/space by /u/coinfanking on 2024-12-24 05:42:22+00:00.

A Nasa spacecraft is attempting to make history with the closest ever approach to the Sun.

The Parker Solar Probe is plunging into our star’s outer atmosphere, enduring brutal temperatures and extreme radiation.

It’s out of communication for several days during this burning hot fly-by and scientists will be waiting for a signal, expected on 27 December, to see if it has survived.

Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018, heading to the centre of our Solar System.

It has already swept past the Sun 21 times, getting ever nearer, but the Christmas Eve visit is record-breaking.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million km) from our star’s surface.