Which spacecraft became the first to fly through the Sun’s corona in 2021?

Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the Sun’s corona in 2021.

NASA launched Parker Solar Probe on August 12, 2018, to investigate the Sun’s outer atmosphere and solar wind. On April 28, 2021, during its eighth close approach, the spacecraft crossed the boundary into the corona. NASA announced the achievement in December 2021 after analysing the mission data.

The probe carries a carbon-composite heat shield that protects its instruments from the extreme environment near the Sun. Its trajectory uses repeated close approaches to Venus to reduce its orbital energy and bring it closer to the Sun. Parker studies magnetic fields, energetic particles and the origins of the solar wind.

The corona is much hotter than the Sun’s visible surface, a long-standing scientific puzzle known as the coronal-heating problem. Parker Solar Probe is sometimes confused with Solar Orbiter, which also studies the Sun but did not make the first coronal crossing.