A spacecraft flew straight through the Sun's atmosphere and survived

In April 2021, NASA's Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to pass through the corona, the Sun's superheated outer atmosphere, confirmed when it crossed a sharp magnetic boundary predicted decades earlier but never directly sampled. Shielded by an 11.5-centimetre carbon-composite heat shield, it survives temperatures near 1,400°C while instruments just behind it stay near room temperature.

— NASA, Parker Solar Probe — launched 2018, first corona crossing confirmed 2021