How did NASA contact the Sun without melting? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 6, 2026 · 8 MIN

How did NASA contact the Sun without melting?

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore the challenges of Parker Solar Probe’s mission to touch the Sun, and what we could learn about the star as we get closer.--In 2021, the Parker Solar Probe achieved its mission to touch the Sun, skimming through its outermost atmosphere. Since then, it’s carved closer and closer paths, but probing deeper into the corona— without melting, exploding, or falling into the Sun— is a monumental engineering challenge. Is it possible? Explore the obstacles of the mission and how it could unlock the mysteries of our star.Directed by Igor Ćorić, Artrake Studio.A special thanks to Doug Willard and Christina Cohen who provided information and insights for the development of this video.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-close-can-we-actually-get-to-the-sunDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-close-can-we-actually-get-to-the-sun/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.artrake.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Iryna Panasiuk, Aaron Torres, Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, and Bethany Connor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 6, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

How did NASA contact the Sun without melting?

0:00 8:32

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of TED-Ed?

This episode is 8 minutes long.

When was this TED-Ed episode published?

This episode was published on August 6, 2026.

Can I download this TED-Ed episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!