WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States space agency NASA announced Wednesday that its Parker Solar Probe, the fastest spacecraft in history, has completed its fourth close approach to the sun.
At 4:37 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, NASA's Parker Solar Probe broke new speed and distance records as it traveled 11.6 million miles (18.7 million kilometers) from the sun's surface at perihelion, reaching a speed of 244,225 miles per hour, according to NASA.
It came after the mission's second Venus flyby on Dec. 26, 2019, and after one trajectory correction maneuver on Jan. 10.
The previous records set by the spacecraft was about 5 million miles from the sun's surface and roughly 213,200 miles per hour. It has been the fastest human-made object.
As with most of Parker Solar Probe's close approaches, the spacecraft is out of contact with Earth for several days around perihelion, according to NASA.
NASA published its first batch of Parker Solar Probe results in December, showing never-seen-before details of the sun and providing clues to new solar physics.
Observing from about 32 million kilometers from the sun, Parker made the first-ever observations of this effect: the solar wind near the sun rotates with the star before it travels in almost straight lines.
Parker will continue to fly ever closer to the sun on its seven-year journey, exploring regions of space never visited before and providing scientists with key measurements to help unveil the mysteries of the solar corona and wind.
