NASA to achieve a new feat this Tuesday: “No spacecraft has ever been so close”.

This Tuesday, the US space agency NASA will accomplish a new feat never before achieved. 
 

This Tuesday, the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will approach the Sun closer than ever before. Astronomers hope to gain new insights into the Sun's atmosphere, which underwent a major “eruption” in early October with no serious consequences for the Earth.

According to NASA calculations, the probe will be about 6.2 million kilometers from the sun's surface on Tuesday. No spacecraft has ever ventured this close to the Sun. “We currently have no radio contact with the probe,” explains Volker Bothmer, an astrophysicist at the University of Göttingen, Germany. “If all goes well, the first signal will be received on Friday December 27. At that point, the probe will send a sign of life back to Earth.”

We'll then know whether the mission has been a success.

The spacecraft is the size of a small car, but can reach a top speed of 690,000 kilometers per hour and can withstand temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius.

Around its surface, the sun's temperature is estimated at nearly 6,000 degrees Celsius.