2023-10-20 17:10:00
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Space probes fly through space at incredible speeds. A NASA probe has set two new records.
Washington DC – Man-made devices – cars, planes and motorcycles – continue to set new speed records. The speeds at which they move are sometimes dizzying. The fastest cars can reach speeds of more than 500 km/h, and fighter jets even fly at supersonic speeds, which means more than 1,188 kilometers per hour.
But all of this is nothing compared to the space probes that race through space. The spacecraft of the moon mission “Apollo 10” traveled at a speed of almost 40,000 km/h on its return to Earth. The space probes “Helios 1” and “Helios 2” – a joint project between American and German space travel – achieved a speed of almost 253,000 km/h relative to the sun in the 1970s and 1980s.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft orbits the sun at high speed
But since 2020 there has been a new record holder in space: the NASA solar probe “Parker Solar Probe”. In February 2020, the spacecraft orbiting the Sun moved around the star at the center of our solar system at a staggering 393,044 km/h. However, “Parker Solar Probe” has long since set this record again: since September 2023, the record for the fastest man-made object has been more than 635,000 kilometers per hour.
The launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft. (Archive image) © imago/ZUMA Press
More precisely: “Parker Solar Probe” races around the sun at 635,266 km/h, says NASA. To gain momentum, the space probe had previously orbited the planet Venus and exploited its gravity in a so-called “flyby” maneuver.
NASA space probe breaks its own speed record
At the same time as the speed record, the NASA space probe broke another record: With a distance of just 7.26 million kilometers, “Parker Solar Probe” rushed past the sun on September 27, 2023 – something that has never been surpassed.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft is orbiting the sun at record speeds. (Artist’s impression) © imago images/ZUMA Press
Of course, the goal of the NASA mission is not to set speed records. The space probe is actually studying the sun and has already solved a number of mysteries. For example, the secret of the solar wind was deciphered. “Parker Solar Probe” flies, among other things, through the solar atmosphere, the corona, in order to gain new insights for research. (tab)
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