How close has the Parker Solar Probe gotten to the Sun?

The answer

NASA's Parker Solar Probe, launched in August 2018, has set records as the closest human-made object to the Sun and the fastest object ever built. On December 24, 2024, it passed within just 6.1 million kilometers of the Sun's surface at a speed of 692,000 km/h - fast enough to travel from New York to Tokyo in less than a minute. In April 2021, during its eighth orbit, Parker became the first spacecraft to fly through the Sun's corona, the outer atmosphere, directly sampling solar wind particles and magnetic fields. Its carbon-composite heat shield withstands temperatures exceeding 1,370°C while keeping instruments at a comfortable 30°C. Key discoveries include switchback structures in the solar magnetic field, unexpectedly large dust-free zones near the Sun, and direct measurements of how the solar wind accelerates to supersonic speeds. These findings are crucial for predicting space weather threatening Earth's technology.