This array of missions from NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin and partners for 2025 reflects a busy year—and a dynamic and collaborative era in space exploration.

The spacecraft flew within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the solar surface to "touch the sun" on Christmas Eve.

Just before midnight Thursday, the spacecraft finally "phoned home," transmitting a beacon tone back to Earth, indicating it was in good health and operating normally, according to the space agency . NASA is expecting the spacecraft to send back detailed data on its status on Jan. 1.

NASA and SpaceX have rescheduled the launch of the IMAP spacecraft to September 2025 to allow more time for preparing its flight systems. The mission will explore the heliosphere to understand the Sun's protective bubble and its effects on space weather and life.

Hubble launched to space on April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Since then, the space telescope has captured some of the most incredible images of the cosmos and made numerous discoveries related to dark matter, the expansion and age of the universe, stellar evolution and black holes.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew 3.8 million miles above the sun's surface at 430,000 miles per hour, beating its own record.

With humans slated to return to the moon this decade, NASA has been testing new lunar vehicles in simulated low gravity.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever — a stunning technological feat that scientists liken to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969. Now, we know it survived.

In a groundbreaking first, the Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its closest encounter with the Sun. So where does this plucky probe go from here?