A probe breaks the record for the fastest man-made object

In the past few weeks, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has set an astonishing record. The last flyby of the Sun recorded the highest speed ever achieved by a man-made object.

To get closer to the sun than ever before, the Parker Solar Probe must perform a cosmic dance. On September 27, the probe reached the turning point in the elliptical orbit around our star for the seventeenth time. With this deadline, the mission can move forward NASA Adding two new records to his books.

Accelerated by the Sun’s gravity, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe reached a speed of 635,266 kilometers per hour. No man-made object has moved so quickly through the solar system. The probe is only competing with itself, as three years ago it also set the old record of 586,863.4 kilometers per hour.
Parker orbit animation: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

The short distance that the probe traveled to the sun during its flight was unprecedented. Parker shot at the surface of the Sun’s plasma at a distance of only about 7.26 million kilometers, and no man-made object has ever come this close to our star.

New records are on the horizon

The Parker Solar Probe still has a few laps around the sun ahead of it. The mission plan currently officially calls for 24 orbits, but after that the probe will continue to operate and collect data for as long as possible. The fastest probe ever has still time to set more records until the end of its mission.

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