A NASA spacecraft is trying to make history as it makes its closest approach to the sun ever.

The Parker Solar Probe is penetrating deep into our star’s outer atmosphere, enduring harsh temperatures and extreme radiation.

It has been out of contact for days during the hot flyby, and scientists will wait for a signal expected on December 27 to see if it survived.

The hope is that the probe will help us better understand how the sun works.

Dr Nicola Fox, NASA’s science director, told BBC News: “People have been studying the sun for centuries, but it’s only when you actually visit a place that you experience its atmosphere.

“So we can’t really experience the star’s atmosphere unless we fly through it.”

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 and headed to the center of the solar system.

It has passed the sun 21 times, getting closer and closer, but its Christmas Eve visit broke the record.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) from the surface of our star.

That might not sound close, but NASA’s Nicola Fox puts it in perspective: “We’re 93 million miles from the sun, so if I put the sun and the Earth one meter apart, Parker The solar probe is only four centimeters from the sun – so it’s very close.”

The detector must withstand temperatures of 1,400 degrees Celsius and radiation that can damage onboard electronics.

It is protected by an 11.5 centimeter (4.5 inch) thick carbon composite shield, but the spacecraft’s strategy is to get in and out quickly.

In fact, it will move faster than any man-made object, hurtling at 430,000 mph, the equivalent of flying from London to New York in 30 seconds.

So why go to so much effort to “touch” the sun?

Scientists hope that as the spacecraft passes through our star’s outer atmosphere – the corona – it will solve a long-standing mystery.

“The corona is really, really hot, and we don’t know why,” explained Dr. Jennifer Millard, an astronomer at the 5th Star Laboratory.

“The temperature of the sun’s surface is about 6,000 degrees Celsius or so, but the corona (this fragile outer atmosphere you can see during a solar eclipse) reaches millions of degrees – and is much further away from the sun. So how does the atmosphere become What’s hotter?”

The mission should also help scientists better understand the solar wind, the continuous stream of charged particles ejected from the solar corona.

When these particles interact with Earth’s magnetic field, the sky blooms with dazzling auroras.

But this so-called space weather can also cause problems, disrupting power grids, electronics and communications systems.

“Understanding the sun, its activity, space weather, the solar wind, is very important to our daily lives here on Earth,” Dr. Millard said.

NASA scientists face an anxious wait over Christmas as the spacecraft loses contact with Earth.

Nicola Fox said once the signal came back home, the team texted her a green heart to let her know everything was fine with the detector.

She admitted she was nervous about the bold undertaking, but she was confident in the investigation.

“I would worry about the spacecraft. But we did design it to withstand all of these brutal conditions. It’s a very, very rugged little spacecraft.”