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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Breaks Record

CHICAGO (CBS)-- The Parker Solar Probe broke the record for closest approach to the sun.

The probe is hurtling toward the sun at 150,000 miles-per-hour.

It now holds the record for closest approach to the sun by a human-made object and passed the current record of 26.55 million miles from the sun's surface.

This is just the beginning.

The Parker Solar Probe is expected to get within 3.8 million miles of the sun by 2024.

NASA launched the probe in August. It was named after astrophysicist Dr. Eugene Parker, who teaches at the University of Chicago. Parker is the first living person to have a NASA mission named after him.

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