Daniel Mueller

Solar Orbiter blasts off to capture first look at sun's poles

Europe and NASA's Solar Orbiter rocketed into space on Feb. 9 night on an unprecedented mission to capture the first pictures of the sun's elusive poles.

"We're on the way to the sun. Go Solar Orbiter!" said Cesar Garcia Marirrodriga, project manager for the European Space Agency. "It's a fantastic moment ... it's like, well, we're unstoppable."