NASA
Wow! Like Icarus, NASA Solar Orbiter gets amazingly close to Sun; will it get DESTROYED too?
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) joint venture, has created history! The spacecraft has come closer to the Sun than any other craft ever. The spacecraft completed two years in space last month and now it has reached as close as 48 million kilometers from the Sun. While the distance feels a lot, it should be noted that Venus is at twice the distance of the Solar Orbiter and its surface temperature can go as high as 462 degree Celsius. As the spacecraft continues to observe the Sun from a distance never seen before, it remains to be seen whether it will face a similar fate as Icarus, a character in Greek mythology, who flew too close to the Sun only to see his wings burn up and him to perish.