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Breaking speed: How did the Parker Solar Probe become the fastest human-made object?
Since its launch in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has continued to set records for space exploration. As the closest probe to the sun ever experienced by mankind, Parker's mission is not only to simply observe the sun up close, but also to become the fastest known man-made object due to its unimaginable speed. How is this achieved?
The Parker Solar Probe was successfully launched on August 12, 2018. Its design goal is to enter the outer corona of the sun. The key to this mission lies in its ingenious gravity-assisted technology and unique orbit. Through multiple approaches to Venus, the Parker probe gradually reduces the closeness of its orbit. Finally, in 2024, its closest approach will reach a distance of about 6.1 million kilometers from the center of the sun. At that time, its speed can reach 690,000 kilometers per hour. , instantly turning it into the fastest man-made object in history.
One of the main goals of this mission is to unravel the mystery of how the sun heats its corona and drives the solar wind.
Inspiration for the design of the Parker Solar Probe can be traced back to a 1958 report that proposed several solar exploration missions, including a probe into the orbit of Mercury. However, these ideas have been repeatedly postponed due to high costs. In the 2010s, the program was reevaluated and incorporated into the lower-cost Parker Solar Probe Plus program.
Project scientist Nikki Fox said the Parker Solar Probe is "the most autonomous space probe ever built."
The Parker Solar Probe's thermal protection system is key to its success. Its solar shield can withstand temperatures up to 1,370 degrees Celsius and effectively protects its internal instruments at its closest location to the sun. This design ensures that the detector cannot be damaged by radiation when faced with ultra-high radiation and heat. In addition, the detector's communication system also needs to have a high degree of autonomy. Since the communication delay with the Earth is about eight minutes, the detector must adjust its direction on its own in real time and maintain its position in the shadow to ensure its ability to transmit data.
Scientists hope to answer many fundamental questions about the sun with this mission. For example, how is the sun's heat efficiently transferred to the corona and accelerating the solar wind? Correspondingly, these questions will have an important impact on the space weather of the earth and the entire solar system.
When the Parker Solar Probe reached a speed of 394,736 mph during a near-solar period in 2023, the speed allowed it to fly from New York to Tokyo in just one minute.
In order to maintain this speed, Parker's "close contact" with the sun is crucial. With each approach to the sun, Parker's gravity boost design allows it to accumulate faster and faster speeds. The result of this design is that it will fly at a speed of 690,000 kilometers per hour by the end of 2024, directly challenging the limits of physics.
But behind all this is not only technological breakthroughs, but also the results of years of hard work by countless scientists and engineers. The successful launch of the Parker probe marks a new chapter in human scientific research on the sun. This mission not only breaks through the traditional scope of space exploration, but also provides unprecedented experimental opportunities to help scientists better understand the sun and its impact on the earth.
With the probe still scheduled to send new data in 2025, we may be on the verge of uncovering the yet-to-be-understood mysteries under the sun's veil. In the days to come, as technology advances, it may even be possible for us to establish deeper connections with more distant stars. On the road of human space exploration, how many unknown possibilities are waiting for us to explore?
