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NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has been breaking records since the day it launched as the fastest space mission in history. Now, six years after it embarked on its quest to study the Sun, Parker has set yet another record. Early on Dec. 24, the spacecraft shot past the Sun at a distance of just 3.8 million miles. No other vehicle has accomplished this feat, which could help scientists better understand solar processes.
This event was Parker’s 22nd close approach of the Sun. Previously, the closest it got to the star’s surface was 4.51 million miles (7.26 million km). NASA set up Parker’s record-setting path back in November when the spacecraft made its final pass of Venus. The solar system’s second planet has seen numerous visits by Parker, which uses the planet’s gravity to slingshot it closer to the Sun.
According to NASA, the big moment came at 6:53 AM EST—at least, that’s the assumption. The environment around the Sun is bathed in radiation that prevents the probe from communicating with mission control for several days. NASA expects Parker to peek out from behind the Sun on Friday, at which time it will be able to reestablish contact with NASA.
Parker was constructed with a unique heat shield made of carbon composite sandwiches. This allows it to withstand the intense heat during each pass. The shield is so effective that the probe’s internal temperature barely gets above room temperature, averaging 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius). Still, Parker’s speed is also key to its continued survival after numerous solar flybys. NASA calculated that Parker would be moving at a record-breaking 430,000 miles per hour as it hit the 3.8-million-mile mark.
The data gathered by Parker is invaluable to science. The Sun is the only star which we can observe up close, and what we learn from it can help us understand the stars we can’t fly past. Parker can also help explain some perplexing aspects of the Sun. As it zipped past the Sun, Parker traced the flow of heat across the surface and into the corona. This could help scientists learn how the corona becomes hundreds of times hotter than the surface of the star. To reach its current location, Parker had to fly through the corona—it was the first spacecraft to do that in 2021.
This record-setting spacecraft isn’t done yet. With this maneuver, assuming the probe is not a cloud of atoms orbiting the Sun, Parker begins the final year of its mission. The spacecraft will remain in its current orbit, swinging past the Sun’s surface at about the same altitude four more times in March, June, September, and December 2025. You can follow Parker’s progress in NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System tool.