Parker Solar Probe continues to break the record for the fastest object ever built by man. The spacecraft was tasked with getting a close-up look at the outer solar corona and has just broken its previous speed record.
Parker Solar Probe: Human spacecraft exceeds 635,000 km/h
The Parker Solar Probe is a space probe from NASA designed to study the Sun up close, especially its corona and solar wind. Launched in August 2018, this probe is part of an ambitious mission to better understand solar activity and its effects on the space around Earth and throughout the solar system.
The probe is currently traveling around our star and is a record-breaking phenomenon. The Parker Solar Probe was caught traveling at 635,266 kilometers per hour on June 29. This is the second time it has reached such speeds since its launch in 2018, and it is likely to continue reaching and possibly even exceeding these speeds in the future.
For a little extra context, traveling at this speed is about 500 times faster than the speed of sound. The maximum speed that Parker Solar Probe is expected to reach during its operations is 692,000 kilometers per hour. It is likely to set this potentially final (for now) record in 2025.
The Parker Solar Probe is by far one of our greatest technological achievements. Designed to withstand the powerful and dangerous radiation and heat of the Sun, the probe is able to get closer than any other spacecraft to the bubbling ball of plasma at the center of our solar system.
It has helped us capture more data about the Sun’s solar activity and is still robust enough to withstand the radiation the Sun often sends its way. Becoming the fastest man-made object was no easy feat, and Parker Solar Probe has completed 20 close passes of the Sun in the last six years.
It's unlikely that any other object will beat Parker's record any time soon. But when it does happen, it will probably be another spacecraft, perhaps one designed with a nuclear fusion engine.
Source: pplware.sapo.pt
