The Parker Solar Probe continues to break the record for the fastest human-made object ever built. The probe has been tasked with capturing a close-up look at the Sun’s outer corona, and it has just broken its previous record for speed.
The probe was recorded traveling at 635,266 kilometers per hour (394,736 mph) on June 29. This is the second time it has reached those speeds since it launched in 2018, and it will likely continue to reach and possibly even break those speeds going forward.
For a little extra context, traveling at that speed is roughly 500 times faster than the speed of sound… so it’s pretty dang fast. The top speed the Parker Solar Probe is expected to reach during its operations is 692,000 kilometers per hour (430,000 mph). It’ll likely set that 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 can 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 activities, and it continues to be sturdy enough to withstand bouts of radiation that the Sun often sends jetting toward it. Becoming the fastest human-made object has been no small feat, though, and the Parker Solar Probe has completed 20 close flybys of the Sun during the past six years.
It is unlikely that any other object will take the record from Parker anytime soon. But, when one does, it will likely be another spacecraft, perhaps one designed with a nuclear fusion engine.
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