NASA’s Parker Solar Probe set a record-breaking milestone on December 24 by flying closer to the sun than any human-made object in history—a feat comparable to the iconic Apollo moon landing in 1969, LiveScience reported.
At precisely 6:53 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the car-sized spacecraft approached within 6.1 million kilometers of the sun’s surface, traveling at a staggering speed of 430,000 mph (690,000 kph). This velocity allows it to cover the distance from Tokyo to Washington, D.C., in under a minute, further cementing its status as the fastest human-made object ever.
“Right now, Parker Solar Probe has achieved what we designed the mission for,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, exclaimed in a celebratory video, posted on social media. “It’s just a total ‘Yay! We did it’ moment.”
HAPPENING RIGHT NOW: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is making its closest-ever approach to the Sun! 🛰️ ☀️
More on this historic moment from @NASAScienceAA Nicola Fox 👇
Follow Parker’s journey: https://t.co/MtDPCEK6w6#3point8 pic.twitter.com/Bq85XFa1QS
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 24, 2024
Due to the spacecraft’s proximity to the sun, direct communication with mission control was not possible during the flyby.
Confirmation of its success and status will arrive via a beacon signal on December 27, with imagery expected in early January and scientific data later in the month as the probe moves further from the sun, explained Nour Rawafi, the mission’s project scientist.
“No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star,” added Nick Pinkine, mission operations manager, emphasizing the groundbreaking nature of the data expected from this uncharted territory.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe aims to unravel key solar mysteries, including the heating mechanism of the sun’s corona and the acceleration of charged particles to near-light speeds. Over its mission, the probe has also captured rare comet imagery and detailed Venus’s surface.
On this historic journey, Parker Solar Probe likely traversed solar plasma plumes and turbulent regions, potentially observing simultaneous solar flares—phenomena that cause stunning auroras on Earth while disrupting communication and technology.
“The sun is behaving differently than it did when we first launched,” Nicholeen Viall, a co-investigator for the WISPR instrument onboard Parker, noted. “It’s creating new types of solar winds and storms, which is really exciting for us.”
The spacecraft’s cutting-edge heat shield, 4.5 inches thick and coated with a special white material, is engineered to endure extreme temperatures of up to 1,371 degrees Celsius. However, Parker encountered lower-than-expected heat levels of about 982 degrees Celsius, according to Elizabeth Congdon, the lead engineer for its thermal protection system. “It’s really great to see all the science enabled by the fact that we overprepared,” she remarked.
With each flyby, Parker Solar Probe continues to advance the world’s understanding of the sun, marking an unprecedented step forward in space exploration.