A NASA probe ventured closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history on Christmas Eve — and it whirled by at astounding speeds that also made it the fastest thing ever made by humans.
Just before 7 a.m. on Dec. 24, the Parker Solar Probe passed within just 3.8 million miles of the sun’s surface — seven times closer to the burning ball of gas than any other mission has gotten, according to the New York Times.
As it skirted the corona — or the sun’s outer atmosphere — it careened through space at a record-breaking 430,000 miles per hour, the outlet said.
The mission has already discovered fascinating new secrets about the life-giving star, a 4.5 billion-year-old ball of hydrogen and helium that’s about halfway through its lifespan.
That includes the discovery of magnetic switchbacks that propel the solar wind and the discovery of a dust-free zone near the star that was predicted almost a century ago.
The craft will go dark until Dec. 27 before hopefully sending another message to Earth confirming that it’s still kicking, the Times said.