Free Republic

A Nasa spacecraft is safe and “in good health” after making the closest-ever approach to the sun, the space agency has revealed. The Parker solar probe (PSP) is “operating normally” after the flyby which saw it come within 3.8 million miles of the surface of our nearest star on Christmas Eve. According to Nasa, it endured potential temperatures of 982C while travelling at 430,000mph – the equivalent of flying from London to New York in less than 30 seconds. Its mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland received the signal earlier than expected,...