
Since 2021, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been treading impressively close to the sun in order to capture unprecedented data about our home star.
In fact, the record-breaking spacecraft completed its closest approach yet to the blazing ball of plasma in June, coming within just 5.3 million miles (8.3 million kilometers) of the solar surface. To reach these incredible milestones, Parker gets by with a little help from its friends. Well, one friend: Venus.