Parker solar probe makes its first flyby of Venus: NASA

NASA's historic mission to solve the mysteries of the Sun has successfully completed its flight over Venus, the US Space Agency announced.

"On October 3, Parker Solar Probe completed its flight over Venus at a distance of about 1,500 km during the first Venus gravity assistance," NASA said in a statement on Wednesday.

"These gravity aids will help the spacecraft tighten its orbit closer and closer to the Sun during the mission," he added.

Launched on August 12, Parker Solar Probe, NASA's historic spacecraft, the size of a small car, will gradually move closer to the Sun until it reaches its closest point to 3.8 million miles.

Throughout its mission, the spacecraft will perform another six assists to the gravity of Venus and 24 passes in total by the Sun.

This maneuver will change the trajectory of Parker Solar Probe to bring the spacecraft closer to the Sun.

The probe should exceed a heliocentric speed of 153,454 miles at the time. It is the record of the fastest satellite measured against the Sun, established by Helios 2 in 1976.

These speed and distance estimates may change after Parker Solar Probe performed gravimetric assistance on October 3.

It should also be less than 27 million kilometers from the Sun. This is the record currently held by Helios 2, established in 1976.

The probe was named in honor of Eugene Parker, a solar physicist who, in 1958, had predicted the existence of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles and magnetic fields that continually flowed from the Sun.