Parker Solar Probe has accelerated to 532,000 km / h, a new record for an artificial object in the solar system

NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which was launched back in 2008 as part of a mission to study our Sun in the immediate vicinity of the facility, broke one record after another and just the other day, during the next (already eighth in a row) orbit around the star, it accelerated to an incredible speed of 532,000 km / h.

Space probe to study the sun

The Parker Solar Probe is a medium-sized SUV-sized device that is sheathed with special screens made of carbon-composite material, which reflects an avalanche of energy emanating from the sun, and thus keeps everything relatively cool unique equipment. The main purpose of the apparatus is to study high-energy solar particles in the solar atmosphere.

All this is necessary for scientists in order to better understand the nature of the origin of such a phenomenon as the solar wind, which originates in the bowels of the sun and spreads through the entire solar system.

How did you manage to achieve such speed

To achieve such a record high speed, the space probe used gravity assist while circling Venus. The probe has already completed the fourth flyby of the planet, which took place in February this year. And then the probe went to the eighth orbit in the Sun, during the flight of which it was possible to reach such a high speed.

This speed made it possible to approach the surface of the Sun at a distance of 10.4 million kilometers from the surface. This is also a new record, as Parker Solar Probe's previous distance was 13.5 million kilometers.

Thus, during the next orbit, the probe will analyze magnetic fields, high-energy particles, images in order to collect data on the solar environment and solar wind. And the data collection process continued until May 4.

What is the task of the probe

The Parker Solar Probe is designed for at least 24 orbits and it turns out that at the moment it has already completed one third of its main program.

Scientists hope that this mission will help to better understand the nature of the solar wind, which can have a rather negative effect on navigation systems, satellites, electrical networks, etc. So the time of the last round, according to the calculation, will take place in 2024.

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