NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survives historic closest-ever flyby to sun

Icarus has nothing on NASA.

The space agency’s Parker Solar Probe survived the latest endeavor in its mission to “touch” the sun – flying just 3.8 million miles above the star’s surface on Christmas Eve, its closest-ever approach.

The spacecraft flew through more than seven times closer to the sun than ever before and soared through the scorching solar atmosphere at 430,000 miles per hour – “faster than any human-made object has ever moved,” the agency said Friday.

After two days of silence, the agency received a beacon tone confirming the spacecraft was safe late Thursday. Parker endured temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit during its solar flyby, relying on a carbon foam shield that can withstand blazing temperatures of up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun’s corona.

“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star,” said Nicky Fox, who heads NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The breakthrough will allow the probe to begin “unrivaled” scientific measurements that may change our understanding of the sun, the agency added, describing the Christmas Eve success as the “first” of more to come at the record-breaking distance.

“By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space,” Fox added, “as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”