How fast is our fastest spaceship

At this rate, it would take about 4. It is about 0. That proximity will help it swing by at increasing speeds, with a planned top speed of around kilometres per second. At that pace, it will be almost three times faster than the previous record-holders, a pair of spacecraft called the Helios probes that studied the sun in the s. At its closest, the Parker Solar Probe will be just less than 7 million kilometres from the sun, more than 6 times closer to it than the Helios probes were, which held the record until Parker broke it in During its closest approach to the sun, the Parker Solar Probe will leave other speedy spacecraft eating metaphorical dust.

That was achievable thanks, in part, to the gas giant's own gravity — which some sticklers claim is cheating. But because things orbit faster the closer in, sailing within 4 million miles 6. Better wave goodbye to it while you can. You can watch the launch live here on Space. Visit Space. Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels space. The probe, which launched in August on a mission to study the sun , has been flying ever closer to our solar system's furnace, using the planet Venus as a slingshot.

On April 29, during its closest approach to the sun known as "perihelion" , Parker was traveling at an almost unfathomable speed -- fast enough to circle the Earth 13 times in a single hour.

Parker set two records back in February From the cosmos to your inbox. Get the latest space stories from CNET every week. Those are some strong records to hold, and this isn't the end, either. Parker should break its own record later in the year when it uses another Venus flyby to slingshot closer to the sun.