NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make a record-breaking flyby of the Sun on Tuesday, coming within 3.8 million miles of its surface at an unprecedented speed of 430,000 mph, making it the fastest human-made object in history.

Launched in 2018 and named after astrophysicist Dr. Eugene Parker, the probe became the first spacecraft to “touch the Sun” in 2021 by sampling particles and magnetic fields in the Sun’s corona.

Over its mission, it has gathered critical data on solar wind, the Sun’s mysteriously hot corona, and coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt Earth’s satellites and power grids, CNN has reported.

As it approaches its final flybys, scientists hope Parker will unlock more answers about our star’s most enduring mysteries.

Written by B.C. Begley