How close can we actually get to the Sun? Well, we are 93 million miles away now, and the sun burns our skin if we stay outside on a sunny summer day. Any further away, and we'd freeze up, so that's a good distance to keep. However, this question isn't about "we," meaning you and me, but about launching probes to gather data. We've been sending probes to the sun since 1961, and have learned a lot before each probe failed or stopped communication.
The Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, has the record for the closest approach while still functioning when it got to 3.8 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) from the sun on June 19, 2025. The probe is nearing the end of its planned mission, but since it's still in good shape, NASA plans to let it continue orbiting the sun until next year when they decide what to do with it next. The TED-Ed lesson explains how we've come this close to touching the sun without melting.
