We're About To Fly a Spacecraft Into the Sun For the First Time

NASA's Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach yet to the Sun on Christmas Eve, flying within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface and entering its atmosphere for the first time. The spacecraft, which travels at speeds up to 430,000 miles per hour, aims to study the origins of solar wind -- the stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun's corona. The probe's heat shield will endure temperatures exceeding 2,500-degree Fahrenheit during the flyby, requiring specialized materials like sapphire crystal tubes and niobium wiring to protect its instruments.

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