NASA spacecraft just broke the record for its closest approach to the sun

A spacecraft studying the sun with NASA has just been registered.

In April 1976, the German-American Helios 2 spacecraft passed the closest solar approach to all space flights, sailing less than 42.73 million kilometers from the sun. But NASA's solar probe Parker zoomed inside this distance today (29 October), crossing the threshold at 13:04. EDT (1704 GMT), officials said the agency.

Helios 2 also set the mark for the fastest speed compared to the sun, at 153,464 km / h (246,960 km / h). The Parker solar probe is expected to work even better today, reaching higher speeds around 22:54. EDT (0:54 GMT Oct. 30), officials said. (NASA's Juno Jupiter spacecraft currently holds the record for maximum speed over the Earth, reaching 165,000 km / h, or 265,000 km / h, when it arrived on the giant planet in July 2016. ) [NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Mission to the Sun in Pictures]

These records will fall again and again during the $ 1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission, which began August 12 with a takeoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Air Force Base in Florida. The spacecraft will study the sun for 24 close flyovers over the next seven years, getting closer and closer to our star at every encounter.

The last flight of the Parker solar probe in 2025 will bring the craft within 6,16 million km (3.83 km) of the sun's surface. And the gravity of the sun will accelerate the probe at a top speed of 6,000,000 km / h (430,000 km / h), NASA officials said.

The first of these two dozen close encounters is imminent: it officially begins Wednesday, October 31 with the arrival of perihelion (closest solar approach) in the night of November 5.

"It's been only 78 days since Parker Solar Probe was launched, and we are now closer to our star than any other spaceship in history," said Andy Driesman, Mission Manager, at the Laboratory's Applied physics Johns Hopkins of Laurel, Maryland, a statement. "It's a moment of pride for the team, even if we remain focused on our first solar encounter, which will start on October 31st."

The spacecraft is equipped with a special carbon composite shield that protects it and its instruments against intense heat and radiation during its close flights.

These instruments will perform various measurements during the meetings. Observations from the Parker solar probe will help researchers better understand the structure, composition and activity of the sun, NASA officials said. And the data could help solve two long-standing solar mysteries – why the sun's outer atmosphere, or crown, is so much hotter than the surface, and accelerates the charged particles of the solar wind at such extraordinary speeds.

Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there" will be published on November 13 by Grand Central Publishing.Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.