NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Just Became The Fastest Spacecraft Of All Time

That did n’t take long . After plunge just two months ago , a NASA probe has become the closest human - made physical object ever to the Sun – and it has also become the fastest spacecraft of all time .

TheParker Solar Probewas launched on August 12 , 2018 on a missionary station to study the Sun like never before . The spacecraft will eventually record an extremely penny-pinching electron orbit around the Sun , one that sees it swoop to 8.5 times the Sun ’s radius from the solar Earth’s surface .

That will take seven year to achieve , cause enjoyment of multiple Venus flybys to get the space vehicle in lieu . But NASA announce yesterday that the spacecraft had already made the closest to approach to the Sun of any ballistic capsule in chronicle , wear a disk that has stood for more than four decades .

Yesterday on October 29 , the ballistic capsule reached a length of 42.73 million kilometers ( 26.55 million miles ) from the Sun ’s open . This sets a old record held by the German - AmericanHelios 2 spacecraft , which contact a minimum length of 43.432 million kilometers ( 26.987 million nautical mile ) from the Sun on April 17 , 1976 .

“ It ’s been just 78 days since Parker Solar Probe launch , and we ’ve now come closer to our champion than any other spacecraft in history , ” say Project Manager Andy Driesman from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel , Maryland in astatement . “ It ’s a proud moment for the team . ”

The spacecraft is also thought to have break the record for the truehearted spacecraft relative to the Sun last dark . That was also held by Helios 2 , traveling at 246,960 kilometers per hour ( 153,454 international nautical mile per hour ) in April 2016 . The Parker Solar Probe hit 248,228 kilometre per hour ( 154,242 international nautical mile per 60 minutes ) yesterday , or0.00023 times the speed of light .

And the fun does n’t hold back there . Tomorrow , October 31 , the ballistic capsule is localize to start its first solar encounter , beginning the science phase of the missionary work as the spacecraft swoop up around the Sun . It will make its first close pass to the Sun on November 5 , face “ brutal heating plant and radiation conditions , ” noted NASA .

The spacecraft is laden with a suite of instruments to study the Sun , hide behind a heat shield to protect them from the star ’s intense heat . Ultimately in 2024 , the spacecraft will reach its close decimal point to the Sun , a space of just 6.16 million klick ( 3.83 million miles ) .

It ’s moderately telling that the Helios 2 record stand for so long , though . Now we ’ve got a new record - breaking spacecraft , and its mission has only just begun .