NASA craft 'touches' sun for 1st time, dives into atmosphere

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft has officially “touched” the sun, plunging done the unexplored star ambiance known arsenic the corona.

The Parker Solar Probe really flew done the corona successful April during the spacecraft's eighth adjacent attack to the sun.

Scientists accidental it took a fewer months to get the information backmost and past respective much months to corroborate it.

The spacecraft was 8 cardinal miles from the halfway of the prima erstwhile it archetypal crossed the uneven bound betwixt the star ambiance and outgoing star wind.

"Not lone does this milestone supply america with deeper insights into our Sun's improvement and its impacts connected our star system, but everything we larn astir our ain prima besides teaches america much astir stars successful the remainder of the universe," said Thomas Zurbuchen, the subordinate head for the Science Mission Directorate astatine NASA Headquarters successful Washington.

The probe volition support drafting ever person to the prima and diving deeper implicit the adjacent 3 1/2 years.

“It’s truly breathtaking to spot our precocious technologies win successful taking Parker Solar Probe person to the Sun than we’ve ever been, and to beryllium capable to instrumentality specified astonishing science,” said Joseph Smith, Parker programme enforcement astatine NASA Headquarters. "We look guardant to seeing what other the ngo discovers arsenic it ventures adjacent person successful the coming years."

☀️ Our #ParkerSolarProbe has touched the Sun!

For the archetypal clip successful history, a spacecraft has flown done the Sun's atmosphere, the corona. Here's what it means: https://t.co/JOPdn7GTcv

#AGU21 pic.twitter.com/qOdEdIRyaS

— NASA (@NASA) December 14, 2021