Scientists await signal from NASA's Parker Solar Probe after historic close sun flyby. Will it phone home?

On its closest approach to the sun near the end of the mission, the Parker Solar Probe will become the fastest spacecraft ever.

On the heels of a NASA spacecraft's historic close flyby of the sun on Christmas Eve, scientists on Earth have one question on their minds: Did their probe survive as an epic Christmas gift, or is it a burned up lump of coal in space?

For a few days, they simply won't know, at least not until the spacecraft — NASA's Parker Solar Probe — phones home with a simple "status beacon" on Friday (Dec. 27) to let its science team know it's okay. But scientists behind the spacecraft's sun flyby on Dec. 24 are confident their spacecraft would survive the trip.