The Sun, the primary source of heat, energy, light, and life on our planet, has — for all of human history — been significantly out of reach. In 1976, the Helios 2 spacecraft approached the Sun to within 43 million km (27 million miles): less than a third of the Earth-Sun distance and a slight amount to the interior of Mercury’s orbit: a record that stood for more than 40 years.
Source: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/parker-solar-probe-touch-sun/