This Is The Fastest Object Ever Made By Humans, And It’s Not Slowing Down Any Time Soon

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has once again shattered its record, cementing its status as the fastest human-made object ever.

On June 29, the Parker Solar Probe was recorded travelling at a staggering 635,266 kilometres (394,736 miles) per hour. This matches the speed it previously achieved, reaffirming its position as the fastest object ever created by humans. To put this into perspective, the probe is moving roughly 500 times faster than the speed of sound.

And this isn’t the peak of its journey. As the probe continues its mission, it is expected to reach an even more astonishing speed of approximately 692,000 kilometres per hour (430,000 miles per hour) when it makes its closest approach to the Sun in 2025. This velocity would be sufficient to travel from Washington, DC to Tokyo in under a minute.

Achieving these incredible speeds involves precise timing and momentum. The Parker Solar Probe utilizes the gravity of Venus in a series of flybys, using the planet’s gravitational pull to slingshot itself closer to the Sun. This gravity-assisted technique allows the probe to gather the momentum needed to reach its record-breaking speeds.

The primary goal of the Parker Solar Probe is to study the Sun’s outer corona, the ultra-hot plasma layer surrounding the Sun. In April 2021, the probe made history by “touching” the Sun for the first time, collecting plasma samples and measuring changes in the magnetic field. This data is invaluable for scientists, providing insights that are impossible to obtain from Earth.

Recently, the probe completed its 20th close approach to the Sun, coming within 7.26 million kilometres of the star’s surface. Future approaches will bring it even closer, to within 6.12 million kilometres. To withstand the extreme conditions near the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe is equipped with an 11.4-centimeter (4.5-inch) carbon-composite shield, capable of enduring temperatures nearing 1,371 degrees Celsius (2,500 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Parker Solar Probe’s achievement as the fastest human-made object is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon. Even when the record eventually falls, it will likely be another spacecraft pushing the boundaries of speed.

Historically, the fastest object was believed to be a nuclear test borehole cover, which was launched towards space at an estimated 240,000 kilometres per hour (150,000 miles per hour) following an underground explosion.