December 29, 2024 10:05 AM

NASA spacecraft ‘safe’ after closest-ever approach to Sun

NASA said on Friday that its Parker Solar Probe was "safe" and operating normally after successfully completing the closest-ever approach to the Sun by any human-made object. The spacecraft passed 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from the solar surface on Dec. 24, flying into the sun's outer atmosphere called the corona, on a mission to help scientists learn more about Earth's closest star. The agency said the operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland receiv...