When will we know if NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived ‘touching’ the sun?
On December 24, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe attempted to “touch” the sun and emerge unscathed. The closest approach ever made by a human-made object to our nearest star saw the spacecraft come within 3.8 million miles of its seething, infernal surface. At the same time, the spacecraft reached the fastest speed ever traveled by a human-made object: 430,000 mph (692,017 kmh) — or about 28,600 time faster than when you’re puttering along in a 15 mph zone....