NASA launched the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter in February. Five months later, the probe beamed back the closest photos ever taken of the sun.

Over its seven-year mission, the orbiter is expected to take the first photos of the sun's poles and capture images of the largest holes in its atmosphere. The spacecraft is also designed to pinpoint the origins of space weather and track eruptions on the sun in near-real time.

In order to see the sun's poles, the orbiter must fly past Venus and use the planet's gravity to swing itself into an orbit that takes it above the plane of our solar system. It will do so three more times over the course of its mission.

Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/solar-orbiter-launch-takes-solar-science-to-new-heights

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com