The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent a spacecraft directly to the Sun in 2018. This spacecraft, called “Parker Space Probe” (PSP), aimed to understand the structure of the Sun. The spacecraft produced by human beings, which is both the closest object to the Sun and the fastest object ever, has now broken a new record. NASA announced that this spacecraft reached a speed of 635 thousand 266 km / h. The highest speed PSP has seen in the past was recorded as 586 thousand 863 km/h.
A speed of 635 thousand 266 km/h may not mean anything on its own. Let’s explain; If an airplane reaches such a speed and begins to circle our planet, 15 full rotations will occur in 1 hour. This is the kind of speed we are talking about.
Not only was the speed record broken: PSP came close to the Sun at a record level!
The maximum speed reached by the Parker Space Probe broke another record. According to NASA’s statement, the spacecraft came as close as 7.26 million kilometers to the Sun. We can explain this distance as follows; Imagine lighting a campfire and getting closer and closer. Keep your distance from the fire at a level that will make you feel the heat intensely but will not burn the hair on your face. This is the distance between PSP and the Sun.
NASA literally played golf to achieve such a feat. Using the propellants in the PSP with an accurate calculation, NASA orbited the spacecraft around Venus. Passing behind Mercury on the way back, the spacecraft managed to get as close to the Sun as possible. Meanwhile; Let’s say that we are talking about a huge power at this point. The power generated by PSP was able to eliminate the Earth’s gravity…
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