331K views · 2.9K shares | In case you missed it, yesterday we launched our mission to “touch” the Sun! Throughout its seven-year mission, our Parker #SolarProbe spacecraft will swoop through the Sun’s atmosphere 24 times, getting closer than any spacecraft has gone before. Learn more about this mission to fly directly through the Sun’s corona: www.nasa.gov/parker | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Facebook

Today the Parker Solar Probe will make its 9th close approach to the Sun. The spacecraft holds the record for the top spacecraft speed and the closest distance to the Sun at perihelion. "Perihelion" is the closest point in an object's orbit to the Sun. In the case of Parker Solar Probe, that's about 10.4 million kilometers (6.5 million miles) from the solar surface. For context, today the Earth is about 152 million kilometers (94 million miles) from the Sun. What's the most amazing thing you kno