NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Survives Closest-Ever Approach To The Sun

As planned, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has completed a record-breaking approach to the Sun while also transmitting a beacon tone back to Earth that indicated it remains in good health and is operating normally. The probe is breaking its own record (on 29 October 2018 it became the closest spacecraft to the Sun). The previous record was set in 1976 by Helios 2 when it approached around 26.55 million miles of the surface of the Sun. While the Parker Solar Probe is exploring the Sun, another NASA probe, the Europa Clipper, is on its way to a Jupiter moon to look for signs of life.