NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made a historic attempt to circle the sun at 6:53 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, which, if successful, would be the closest-ever attempt to do so. The agency will remain out of contact with the spacecraft until Friday,

NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever — a stunning technological feat that scientists liken to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew 3.8 million miles above the sun's surface at 430,000 miles per hour, beating its own record.

On Christmas Eve, the spacecraft approached within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface—the closest any spacecraft has ventured before.

The space agency’s Parker Solar probe was supposed to approach within 3.8 million miles of the sun’s surface, a record-breaking distance, at 6:53 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. During the approach, the probe will be out of contact with Earth “due to constraints on signal transmission” so close to the sun’s surface.

The mission control team is eagerly awaiting a signal from Parker on December 27, which will confirm the spacecraft's successful completion of the flyby and its continued operation.

NASA said scientists began receiving more detailed telemetry — or "housekeeping data" — from the spacecraft on New Year's Day.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe added to the festive cheer by sending home its first detailed telemetry data soon after its record-breaking closest-ever approach to the sun.