NASA's Parker Solar Probe is setting a new record on Tuesday as it is making its closest approach to the sun.

The spacecraft is expected to pass within 3.8 million miles (about 6.1 million kilometers) of the sun's surface on Tuesday, more than seven times closer than any previous mission has made, according to NASA.

Since its launch in 2018, Parker has inched progressively closer to the sun during 21 solar flybys.

The mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, aims to collect measurements and images to expand human knowledge of the origin and evolution of solar wind. It also makes critical contributions to forecasting changes in the space environment that affect life and technology on Earth.

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