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Space Orbiter to provide closest images of sun
Solar Orbiter (Credit: European Space Agency) The European Space Orbiter reached its closest approach to the sun Saturday, providing researchers with unprecedented detail. According to the European Space Agency, the spacecraft passed at about one-third of the sun-Earth distance, or 30 million miles, around 7:50 a.m. ET. The agency said the spacecraft is now in the orbit of the planet Mercury. The space mission is a project of the European Space Agency in conjunction with NASA.