> New Horizons ... still holds the record for the fastest thing ever launched from Earth.
To expand on this a bit, it's the fastest launch. The unqualified speed record goes to the Parker Solar Probe in 2018, and was previous held by Helios B way back in 1976.
The distinction here is that New Horizons has spent it's life traveling away from the Sun, and it costs energy and thus speed to do so. Meanwhile, solar probes gain speed during their fall towards the Sun.
And parker is about to break its own record soon! Its currently about to (or has just) pass venus one last time before swinging by the sun once more, so close that it will be able to fly through the plasma loops.
To expand on this a bit, it's the fastest launch. The unqualified speed record goes to the Parker Solar Probe in 2018, and was previous held by Helios B way back in 1976.
The distinction here is that New Horizons has spent it's life traveling away from the Sun, and it costs energy and thus speed to do so. Meanwhile, solar probes gain speed during their fall towards the Sun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft)