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NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe is still zipping around the sun making history, and it\u2019s gearing up for another record-setting approach this week. On December 24 at 6:53AM ET, the spacecraft\u2019s orbit will take it just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface, according to the space agency. That\u2019ll be the closest it \u2014 or any other probe \u2014 has ever come to the sun. The milestone will mark the completion of the Parker Solar Probe\u2019s 22nd orbit around our star, and the first of the three final closest flybys planned for its mission<\/a>. The craft, which launched in 2018, is expected to complete a total of 24 orbits.<\/p>\n \u201cNo human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory,\u201d Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, said in a statement on NASA\u2019s blog<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n The Parker Solar Probe will be traveling at about 430,000 miles per hour at the time of its closest-ever pass. It\u2019ll ping the team to confirm its health on December 27, when it\u2019ll be far enough from the sun to resume communications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n