• Telegram is profitable after 11 years, thanks to ads and premium subscriptions, its CEO said.
• The platform's revenue exceeded $1 billion, with $500 million in cash reserves.
• Telegram faces global scrutiny over misinformation and its lack of content moderation.

Encrypted messaging service Telegram is finally profitable about 11 years after it was founded, CEO Pavel Durov said Monday.

Durov wrote in a post on his Telegram channel that the messaging platform turned profitable this year because of revenue from ads and its premium subscription. It also paid off a "meaningful share" of its $2 billion debt, he said.

Telegram has been pushing monetization efforts this year such as a revenue-sharing model for content creators and a business-level subscription tier. The premium monthly subscription costs $4.99.

Telegram's 2024 revenue surpassed $1 billion, and the company has $500 million in cash, excluding crypto, the Russian-born founder wrote. He said the results "demonstrate that social media platforms can achieve financial sustainability while staying independent and respecting users' rights.

The milestone is a big improvement from last year's figures: Telegram lost $108 million on revenue of $342 million, according to The Financial Times in August. Losses in early years are common for growing tech and media companies and Durov even floated the idea of a public listing earlier this year.

The messaging service, which said it has about 950 million users, has faced a series of controversies, including bans and scrutiny over the spread of misinformation. In August, French authorities arrested Durov and issued preliminary charges for allowing what they deemed criminal activity on Telegram. Durov has not been allowed to leave France since.

"Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach," Durov wrote on his Telegram channel at the time.

He acknowledged that the platform's growth spike caused "growing pains" that made it easier for criminals to abuse, but said it isn't an "anarchic paradise."

Spain, Germany, and the UK, among other countries, have considered banning the app or placing sanctions because of what they see as disinformation on the platform and a lack of response to government requests to take down some posts. Telegram differs from other social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, because it has little to no content moderation. It is banned in China, Thailand, and Iran.

Telegram was banned in Russia between 2018 and 2020 after Durov denied the Kremlin access to user data. Durov left Russia in 2014 after similar problems with his previous social network venture.

Today, Telegram is popular in Russia and plays a major role in information about the war in Ukraine.

• Netflix has dropped many original, well-received series in 2024.
• "Bridgerton," "Nobody Wants This," and "Baby Reindeer" are among the most-talked-about series of the year.
• "Supacell" season one and "Ripley" have also received critical acclaim.

Some of Netflix's best shows of 2024 are fresh offerings from the streamer.

Over the years, Netflix has created several award-winning hit series, from "Stranger Things" and "The Crown" to "Emily in Paris."

"Bridgerton" is another big hit. After its release in May and June 2024, its third season became the sixth most-watched English Netflix TV show of all time.

But many established shows haven't returned in 2024, providing space for series including "A Man on the Inside," "One Day," and "Baby Reindeer" to shine.

Here are the Netflix originals released in 2024 that have scored highly on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Ripley"

Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

"Ripley" differs from previous adaptations of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" books by being filmed in black and white, creating an enchanting noir world.

Like in the book, Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott) is a con man who is pulled into a world of extravagant wealth when he is hired to bring a son home to his father.

This adaptation is a slow-moving psychological thriller, but if you can survive its pace, you will be rewarded with a visually beautiful piece of television and another amazing performance from Andrew Scott.

Terminator Zero

Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

"Terminator Zero," the first anime set in the "The Terminator" universe, flew under the radar when it premiered in August. However, critics praised the series, saying it had stunning animation.

The series takes the story format of past "Terminator" projects and brings it to 1997 Tokyo.

Malcolm Lee (voiced by Yūya Uchida in Japanese and André Holland in English) is developing a rival AI system to Skynet when he is visited by a Terminator. He and his three children try to escape from the assassin while being helped by a mysterious soldier from the future.

"Griselda"

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

"Griselda" — a limited series about the life of Griselda Blanco (Sofía Vergara), a real-life drug trafficker who died in 2012 — was Netflix's first big hit of 2024.

"Griselda" does not stick to the facts of Blanco's life but portrays a fascinating, fast-paced story about the self-destructive nature of greed.

Critics praised Vergara as the standout in the series for portraying Griselda's transformation from housewife to brutal killer. Vergara is best known for starring in comedies, but "Griselda" showed she can handle serious roles.

"Bridgerton" season three

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

Though there are plenty of complaints about this season of "Bridgerton," the show's writers still managed to hook audiences in for another eight episodes of romantic chaos.

The series sees lead couple Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) figure out whether they can be more than friends.

Fans and critics praised Coughlan and Newton's cozy chemistry, while supporting characters like Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) stole the show with spell-binding performances.

The franchise also finally committed to including LGBTQ+ characters in the "Bridgerton" world by confirming that two siblings are bisexual, teasing more great romances to come.

"One Day"

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix dropped the perfect romantic drama right in time for Valentine's Day in 2024.

"One Day," an adaptation of David Nicholls' bestselling book of the same name, is about a 20-year relationship between two people, Dexter (Leo Woodall) and Emma (Ambika Mod), who couldn't be more different.

Each episode jumps a year forward to show how their relationship has changed, making the series easy to binge. Woodall and Mod are captivating with their subtle but convincing performances, bringing Dexter and Emma to life.

Though the story is remembered for its devastating ending, every bit of "One Day" is thrilling television.

"Dead Boy Detectives" season one

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

Since the end of "Supernatural," there has been a gap for a new supernatural mystery series to take over, and "Dead Boy Detectives" may be the perfect successor.

Though the show is technically a spinoff of Netflix's "The Sandman," they couldn't be more different. Two ghosts (George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri) choose to stay on Earth instead of going to the afterlife and begin a new career solving paranormal mysteries with a psychic medium friend.

The cleverly written series blends the case-of-the-week format with an overarching villain, making it fun for all types of fans.

"Nobody Wants This" season one

Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%

"Nobody Want This" was arguably the biggest surprise hit of the second half of 2024.

Based on the life of the series' showrunner, Erin Foster, "Nobody Wants This " follows a burgeoning relationship between an unlikely couple: a self-destructive, agnostic sex podcast host and a modern "hot rabbi."

Fans and critics alike thought Kristen Bell and Adam Brody had irresistible chemistry and were mostly won over by the pair's performance rather than the series' story.

Brody's performance marked a revival for the actor.

"Black Doves" season one

Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

Netflix had so much confidence in "Black Doves" that it renewed it for a second season in August before the first season dropped.

The gamble paid off. "Black Doves" received critic praise and a Golden Globe nomination. During its premiere week, it was also the second most-watched series in English on the platform.

Keira Knightley stars as Helen Webb, the wife of a UK political figure and an operative of a spies-for-hire organization. When Helen's secret lover is killed, her organization sends Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) to protect her. Together, they investigate her lover's murder.

Knightley and Whishaw give great performances in this thriller full of surprise twists that seamlessly blend violence and comedy.

"A Man on the Inside" season one

Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

The last time showrunner Mike Schur and actor Ted Danson teamed up, they created "The Good Place," which was named one of the top 10 best shows of the 2010s by AV Club, Time, and Vanity Fair.

Now they're back with another show that's making fans laugh and cry, "A Man on the Inside."

The series follows Charles Nieuwendyk (Danson), a widower grieving the loss of his wife, who is hired as a spy in a retirement home to help a private investigator solve a theft. Along the way, Charles makes new friends, reconnects with his daughter, and learns about combating loneliness as he grows older.

The series has great performances across the cast, including Danson, Stephanie Beatriz, Sally Struthers, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

"The Diplomat" season two

Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

"The Diplomat" earned SAG, Emmy, and Golden Globe award nominations after debuting in 2023 with an 84% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.

Season two received an even better score and solidified the show as one of the most exciting thrillers on TV right now. The show could win more awards in 2025.

Keri Russell is the standout actor as Kate Wyler, a US ambassador to the UK who is helping to defuse an international crisis while the White House moulds her to step in as the new vice president.

In season 2, Kate finally meets the VP she is meant to replace, Grace Penn (Allison Janney).

"American Nightmare"

Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%

Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins, the filmmakers behind Netflix's "The Tinder Swindler," released an arguably even more harrowing true crime series in 2024 with "American Nightmare."

The show was based on the case of Denise Huskins, a woman who was kidnapped, drugged, and raped in 2015. When she was let go by her kidnapper, the police accused her and her boyfriend of faking the kidnapping.

The real culprit, Matthew Muller, was arrested later that year for a similar home invasion, and investigators later found evidence that linked him to Huskins' kidnapping.

"American Nightmare" is a sensitive, riveting retelling of this case without the sensationalism seen in some other Netflix true crime shows.

"Baby Reindeer"

Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%

"Baby Reindeer" may be on your radar because of the multiple controversies concerning the real-life people who inspired the show.

Based on writer Richard Gadd's autobiographical one-person comedy show, "Baby Reindeer" is about an aspiring comedian who is stalked by a woman he serves at a pub.

Gadd takes the audience on a nuanced, darkly comedic, and shocking emotional roller coaster as he unpacks his trauma. No wonder "Baby Reindeer" won six Emmys in 2024.

"Supacell" season one

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

We may be in an era of Superhero fatigue, but that has not stopped "Supacell" from becoming a Netflix hit in 2024.

The sci-fi drama follows a group of Black people living in South London who discover they have superpowers. Together, they must fend off a secret organization hunting them and save an important person.

The initial logline sounds like every superhero story, but "Supacell" strengthens its storyline by shining a light on the experiences of Black Londoners.

The series boasts a talented cast of rising stars and great action sequences. It also shines a light on sickle cell anemia, a historically poorly understood condition that mostly affects people of African and Caribbean backgrounds.

"Girls5Eva" season three

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

Thank god Netflix picked up "Girls5Eva," the riotously funny comedy created by "Umbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" alum Meredith Scardino, for a third season.

The series follows a has-been '90s girl group who reunites after a young rapper samples their single "Famous 5eva" and makes them relevant again. "Girls5eva" has it all: jokes on jokes on jokes, themed songs about Fort Worth, Texas, and Renée Elise Goldsberry reliably giving the comedy performance of her life every single episode, among plenty of other redeeming attributes.

While it's one of the funniest shows on television, "Girls5eva" also has a lot of heart and commentary on queer fandom, modern fame, and female friendship.

"Heartstopper" season three

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

For the third season in a row, "Heartstopper" is one of the highest-rated Netflix original series of the year.

"Heartstopper" is a cozy, wholesome series about the relationship between two British high school students as well as the highs and lows of teenagers' lives from a queer lens.

Season three is filled with fun cameos from British actors includin Hayley Atwell and Jonathan Bailey, and great performances from the lead actors Kit Connor, Joe Locke, and Yasmin Finney.

"Arcane: League of Legends" season two

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

"Arcane" season one, a video game adaptation of "League of Legends," received a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating, a 96% Rotten Tomatoes fan rating, and won four Emmy awards.

Though fans and critics said season two's conclusion was rushed, they praised it for its beautiful animation and electrifying action.

"Arcane" season one is a decadeslong, tragic story about the class conflict between the technological utopian city of Piltover and its neighboring poor city of Zaun.

The two cities head toward war in season two following the previous season's cliffhanger, where Jinx, a mentally ill criminal from Zaun, shoots a rocket at the Piltover's governing council.

• The UK said it has live-fired its new anti-drone radio weapon that costs only about 10 pence to fire.
• It's been heralding such weapons as a cheap alternative to missile-based systems for killing drones.
• This weapon, the RFDEW, is said to kill drones from 1,000 meters away in land, air, and sea environments.

The UK Defense Ministry said on Monday that it's successfully live-tested its new radio frequency weapon that can take down drone swarms for "less than the cost of a pack of mince pies."

"A live firing trial was recently completed by the Army's Royal Artillery Trials and Development Unit and 7 Air Defence Group at a range in West Wales," it said in a statement. "Where they successfully targeted and engaged Uncrewed Aerial Systems, in a first for the British Armed Forces."

The system is called the Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon, or RFDEW. The UK says it has a range of up to 1,000 meters, or about 1,093 yards, at an estimated cost of 10 pence, or about $0.13, per shot.

The RFDEW uses high-frequency radio waves to detect, track, and then disable critical electronic components in the drones so that they become immobilized or fall out of the sky.

It's meant to be versatile. The UK says the RFDEW can be deployed in land, air, and sea environments.

Development of the weapon was announced in May, when officials described it as a cheaper alternative to traditional missile-based systems for fighting drones. The defense ministry said at the time that tests would be carried out over the summer.

The UK said the RFDEW is mostly automated, meaning it can be operated by a single person and mounted onto a military vehicle.

It's one of London's answers to the growing prominence of drone warfare, brought to the fore by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where cheap drones have become a primary killing tool in the protracted conflict.

The UK is also developing a vehicle-mounted laser beam weapon that fires shots costing 10 pence each, which it said has a range of 1,000 meters as well.

That weapon was successfully tested too, the ministry said on December 11.

Both systems were developed under a government program that partners with private firms such as Raytheon and Teledyne e2v.

The UK also spent about $126 million developing DragonFire, another laser weapon system that uses high-concentrated energy beams to kill drones at less than $13 a shot.

If these systems can be deployed at scale, their advertised low per-shot cost could be a major advantage for the UK. Traditional anti-drone tech that's already considered to be in the lower-cost range, such as the expendable Raytheon Coyote, can be priced at about $100,000 per munition.

Militaries want to go far cheaper, amid a heightened awareness that any armed force — from Russian and Ukrainian troops to Yemeni rebels — can deliver deadly payloads at less than $1,000 through commercial drone parts.

The US is developing a weapon similar to the RFDEW that uses microwaves to fry drone parts and disable swarms. It looks like a container with a satellite dish and is called the Tactical High-power Operational Responder, or THOR.

In April 2023, the US Air Force said it had successfully tested THOR against a drone swarm.

Such technologies are also becoming more mainstream in Ukraine. Kvertus, a company based in Kyiv, sells a handheld "anti-drone gun" that it says can knock out drones with radio frequencies.

A government review board was unable to reach a consensus in Nippon Steel's planned $15 billion purchase of U.S. Steel and has referred the matter to President Biden for final , the two companies said on Monday night.

The big picture: The Washington Post first reported on Monday's deadlock by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) on the proposed deal's potential impact on national security if U.S. Steel were sold to Japan's largest steelmaker.

• Both Biden and President-elect Trump have signaled their opposition to the purchase of the Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel, which the United Steelworkers (USW) union is also against.
• Nippon Steel urged Biden late Monday to reflect during the 15-day period that he has to make a final decision "to reflect on the great lengths that we have gone to address any national security concerns that have been raised.

What they're saying: U. S. Steel said in a statement late Monday that the deal "enhances U.S. national and economic security through investment in manufacturing and innovation" by a company "based in one of the United States' closest allies."

• The emailed statement added that it "forges an alliance in steel to combat the competitive threat from China."
• This statement added that the sale should be approved on its merits and that it should be a model for "friendshoring" investment.
• "Nippon Steel has made extraordinary commitments, including over $2.7 billion of investments in our USW facilities, that will be in a binding legal agreement enforceable by the U.S. government, to ensure these virtues are realized," the statement added.
• "It is our hope that President Biden will do the right thing and adhere to the law by approving a transaction that so clearly enhances U.S. national and economic security."

Nippon Steel said in its statement that Biden should reflect on the "significant commitments we have made to grow U. S. Steel, protect American jobs, and strengthen the entire American steel industry, which will enhance American national security," said a spokesperson for the world's fourth-largest steelmaker.

• "We are confident that our transaction should and will be approved if it is fairly evaluated on its merits," added the spokesperson over email.
• Representatives for the CFIUS and Biden did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Go deeper: Inside U.S. Steel's decision to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Honda and Nissan face a litany of difficult decisions about their competing vehicles and overlapping U.S. manufacturing jobs if they move forward with a merger.

Why it matters: A combination of Honda and Nissan — formerly fierce competitors — would create the world's third-largest automaker by vehicle sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.

• It would also raise concerns about plant consolidation for two companies that have invested heavily in U.S. manufacturing.

Driving the news: The Japanese automakers confirmed Monday that they are aiming for a merger via a joint holding company.

• They plan to sign an agreement by June 2025 and get shareholder approval by April 2026.
• The tie-up could also bring along Mitsubishi, a longtime partner of Nissan's.

Between the lines: Honda is the bigger and healthier of the two and would appoint a majority of the holding company's board, the automakers said.

• The proposal comes as Nissan is urgently cutting costs, having fallen behind in the global EV race, while both companies are struggling in the bruising Chinese automotive market.
• The companies said in a statement they expect to standardize their vehicle platforms, "optimize" their manufacturing footprints, "create stronger products, reduce costs, enhance development efficiencies, and improve investment efficiencies."

The intrigue: In a press conference in Japan, Honda's CEO was forced to fend off suggestions his company "was being railroaded into a deal by Japanese officials concerned about the survival of Nissan," the Wall Street Journal wrote.

• "This is not a rescue," Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said, though the WSJ said he "struggled when asked what attracted him to Nissan as a partner."

Reality check: A deal, no matter the terms, poses vexing questions.

• Which vehicles will survive? Their vehicle lineups are not complimentary — indeed, there's significant overlap. In the U.S., for example, the Honda Accord competes with the Nissan Altima in the sedan segment, while the Honda CR-V competes with the Nissan Rogue in the crossover category.
• Will they cut jobs in the U.S.? Honda has more than 23,000 workers at 12 factories in the U.S., while Nissan has some 15,000 workers at three plants here. The companies said they "anticipate ... optimizing their manufacturing plants." Honda's factories are heavily concentrated in Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, while Nissan's are located in Tennessee and Mississippi.
• How will a merger help them compete in China? Chinese automakers are exerting extraordinary pressure on their competitors in the EV space. A combined Honda-Nissan would have greater scale to compete in China, but Mibe reportedly said at the press conference there wouldn't be any significant merger benefits until 2030.
• Can they avoid culture clash? Honda is known for its high quality standards and commands higher prices than Nissan, which has shown more willingness to discount vehicles in the past.

The bottom line: Making this a good fit will require some heavy lifting.

Greenland's leader on Monday responded to President-elect Trump suggesting the U.S. should take ownership of the autonomous territory that's part of the kingdom of Denmark by making clear it's not for sale.

What they're saying: "Greenland is ours," Prime Minister Múte Egede said on Facebook. "We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our year-long struggle for freedom. However, we must continue to be open to cooperation and trade with the whole world, especially with our neighbours."

The big picture: Trump said in announcing PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his choice for United States ambassador to Denmark on Sunday, "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

• He did not elaborate further on his plans for the world's largest island that's not a continent and his representatives did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment on Sunday or Monday evening.

Flashback: Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland during his first term as president, but Danish officials made clear it was not for sale.

Go deeper: Trump demands return of Panama Canal if rates aren't cut

Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.

• I have two teenagers and I have no idea how they grew up so quickly.
• They don't ask for toys for Christmas anymore, they want my time.
• They roll their eyes in disgust if I offer my time, and if I take too long to respond they move on.

I was surrounded by boxes. Boxes of decorations that still needed to be unpacked, boxes of holiday cards that still needed to be written, boxes of gifts to be wrapped and mailed. And there was my 13-year-old son, nearly as tall as me, standing in the doorway while I surveyed the chaos and contemplated how many days there were until Christmas.

"Hey, Mama. Do you want to go to Starbucks, just the two of us?"

There was so much still to be done and only a few weekend hours left to do it. But I looked at my son, whose face had started to look more like a young adult's than a little kid's, and I said, "Sure, baby, why not?"

I didn't think time would go by so fast

I don't know how it happened so fast, but I have two teenage sons. Thinking back on their little kid Christmases, filled with toys, games, and stuffed animals, I remember the whirlwind of excitement — and exhaustion. I knew they wouldn't always believe in Santa Claus (or wake me up before dawn to open their presents), but it still felt like those magical years would stretch on forever.

This Christmas, though, they're 13 and 15, and their gift requests have shifted from PAW Patrol and Transformers to clothes, tech, and — most unexpectedly — my time.

They don't typically ask for my time outright. If I'm not paying attention or I hesitate too long, the moment will slip away, and they'll move on to something else — usually something that involves a screen, a group chat, and a world to which I'm decidedly not invited.

But every now and then, they let me in. For my 13-year-old, it might look like a quick trip to Starbucks, where we order our favorite drinks, and he fills me in on the latest eighth-grade drama. Or it might be him helping me bake a batch of my "famous" gingersnaps while rattling off information he's accumulated over the course of a school week: what car his friend's dad drives, trivia about the newest roller coaster at Walt Disney World, or how his English teacher knew Bruce Springsteen growing up. For the past two months, it's been an occasional request to run lines with him as he studies his role as Colonel Mustard. Last fall, it was getting up early on vacation to watch the sunrise with me.

My 15-year-old is more low-key because he's an introvert like me. His requests for my time often sneak up on me — and they don't always involve much talking. He might sit down unannounced to watch 20 minutes of an old "Grey's Anatomy" episode with me, tossing in a wry comment about the characters' questionable life choices or the episode's unlikely disaster. Or, like last weekend, he might surprise me by coming home from a friend's house and launching into a detailed account of their "Dungeons and Dragons" campaign, his face lighting up as he recounts every plot twist. On rare occasions, he'll call me into the office to show me what he's doing in 3D computer graphics — a skill he's learned entirely on his own — while I marvel at his creativity.

They don't want it if I offer it

Giving my time to my teens isn't something I can wrap in a bow — and they'd absolutely roll their eyes in disgust if I offered them anything as cutesy as coupons for "Time With Mama." But it's the one gift they (sometimes) genuinely want. Not when it's convenient for me, but when they're ready: when they're stressed, excited, overwhelmed, or simply in the mood to share a moment, or an hour, of their life with me.

Setting aside whatever I'm doing to give them my full attention is as much a gift for me as it is for them. These aren't big, shiny moments — they're quiet, fleeting ones. But being able to give my teens my time is a reminder to myself to slow down and appreciate this life I get to share with them. They're memories I can savor as these teenage years fly by — and moments I hope they'll hold on to when they head off to college and, eventually, into busy lives of their own.

This year, there won't be a mountain of overpriced and unwanted presents under the tree, but there will be time. As much as they want, whenever I can give it. And while I sometimes miss those chaotic Christmases of early childhood, I know I will look back on these quieter days with my teens just as fondly.

• NASA's Parker Solar Probe is about to make its closest approach to the sun.
• The spacecraft will fly within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface.
• The spacecraft is collecting essential data that can help inform forecasting models on Earth.

The fastest human-made object is hurtling toward the sun at this very moment, approaching speeds of 430,000 mph — and on December 24, it's scheduled to make history.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 and has completed 21 close flybys around the sun. However, its mission on Christmas Eve will be unlike any other.

At 6:53 a.m. ET, the spacecraft is set to fly the closest to the sun of any human-made object. The mission will take it closer than any previously scheduled or planned future approaches.

If all goes to plan, the uncrewed spacecraft will come within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface.

NASA anticipates the probe will experience temperatures of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, which shouldn't be an issue since the spacecraft's protective heat shield is designed to withstand temperatures over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yes, 3.8 million miles is far by Earth's standards, but it's ridiculously close when you're out in deep space.

It's like if you put the Earth and sun at opposite ends of an American football field: "Parker Solar Probe is on the 4-yard line approaching the sun," Joe Westlake, Director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Division, told 6abc Philadelphia.

"It is getting so close that we're actually in the sun's upper atmosphere. We're actually touching the sun with humanity's first mission to a star," Westlake added.

The moment NASA has been waiting for

The Christmas Eve flyby is the moment the mission has been building up to for years.

"This close approach is only possible because of the mission's orbital design," a NASA spokesperson told Business Insider via email.

"The spacecraft had to shed a lot of orbital energy to get this close to the sun, so that's why it took several years," the spokesperson added.

Over the years the Parker Solar Probe, about the size of a small car, has made increasingly close flybys.

For example, in September 2020, it flew within 8.4 million miles of the solar surface. By September 2023, it reached within 4.5 million miles.

When the spacecraft makes these close approaches, it cuts communication with Earth and flies autonomously, guiding itself through the sun's harsh upper atmosphere until it's far enough away to reestablish coms.

NASA last heard from Parker Solar Probe on December 22 and expects to hear from it again around midnight between Thursday and Friday, Nour Rawafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, said during a recent NASA livestream.

While flying so close to the sun doesn't hold any promise of discovering alien life there or paving the way for future crewed missions to walk on the solar surface, the Parker Solar Probe's mission is, arguably, more important.

Here's what you need to know about this historic mission and how it could help humanity solve some of the world's biggest questions.

Parker Solar Probe is helping us answer the big questions

It may appear calm and quiet from far away, but the sun is a turbulent sphere of activity. It's got solar flares and massive eruptions that fire fast-moving, charged particles deep into our solar system.

"Without that activity, we would not exist. That activity is really necessary for life to kick off," Rawafi said during NASA's livestream.

So, on a grand scale, understanding how our sun works can help us better understand how life originated on Earth and where it might exist elsewhere in the universe.

Also, by studying our own star up close, we can learn how other stars in the universe interact "with the billions and billions of other planets that may or may not be like our own planets," Alex Young, associate director for science communication in NASA's Heliophysics Science Division, said during the livestream.

Wishing for the biggest explosion ever

Rawafi said the best gift the sun could give scientists during Parker Solar Probe's coming approach is "one of the strongest explosions ever."

The sun is currently at a solar maximum — a period of peak solar magnetic activity lasting one to two years and causing powerful flares, eruptions, and ejections.

Sometimes, the charged particles from these eruptions reach Earth. When that happens, it can disrupt satellites, mess with GPS, and subsequently ground flights. It can also expose astronauts to high levels of space radiation.

As we continue to launch more satellites and people into space, these solar events are a growing threat. Yet, scientists don't have a highly accurate forecasting model for warning satellite operators and astronauts far in advance.

That's why Rawafi wants a big explosion: The probe would be in a perfect position to study the event mere moments after it occurs, offering scientists swaths of data that could help inform and improve forecasting models.

Parker Solar Probe has already collected so much data during its years of operation that it will take decades to study it all, Rawafi said at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in early December.

According to NASA, the spacecraft is scheduled to complete 24 orbits around the sun, with its last two planned for 2025.