Wow. That is close.
I hope they go at night when it is not so hot.
According to Wikipedia — which is apparently more reliable than the Daily Mail — it’s a bit over 26 MILLION miles, not 26 miles. (Mercury is about 35 million miles from the sun.)
“allowing it to get within 26 miles of the blazing sun.”
Total crap reporting by an reporter most ignorant of science.
The atmosphere of the sun extends thousands of miles. If one was within 26 miles of the surface of the sun atmospheric drag would destroy the satellite as it would then descend into the sun long before it was 26 miles from the surface. The surface of the sun is a debate. What is the surface and what is atmosphere? Much like Jupiter, a gas giant as is our sun.
I would be so bold as to say the sun had no definitive surface. It is a gas giant that from its core of incredible density slowly decreases in density with distance from the core until it is really space with little influence by the sun relative to density. What we see when looking at the sun via telescopes is the ionized lower atmosphere surrounding the sun. To the layman this is the surface of the sun. It is not. There is no definitive surface of the sun.
I hate ignorant reporters.
Los Angeles to Catalina Island close.