2023-10-16 06:00:33
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has once again set a new record for the fastest man-made object in history.
An artistic illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the Sun.
Credit: NASA
On September 27, the probe reached the staggering speed of 635,266 km/h as it approached the surface of the Sun. This feat was made possible thanks to the gravitational assistance (Gravitational assistance or gravitational support, in the field of mechanics…) of Venus, which it came close to on August 21. This speed shatters its previous record of 586,863 km/h set in November 2021. At the same time, the probe set a new distance record, coming only 7.26 million km from the solar surface. Venus’ gravitational assist is essential to allow the probe to approach the Sun. As it passes near Venus, the probe loses part of its orbital energy, which brings it closer to the Sun. Another flyby is planned for 2024, at a planned distance of 6.16 million km from the solar surface. On this occasion, the probe should reach even higher speeds.
Launched in August 2018, the Parker probe’s mission is to study the Sun’s corona, the outermost layer of its atmosphere. Understand the movements of heat (In everyday language, the words heat and temperature often have an equivalent meaning:…) through the corona, as well as the variations of magnetic fields and plasma (In physics, plasma describes a state of matter made up of charged particles (ions, etc.) on the surface of the Sun, will allow scientists to better anticipate spatial meteorology, according to the NASA.
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