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Parker Solar Probe

The First Mission to the Nearest Star
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Illuminating First Light Data from Parker Solar Probe

Just over a month into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned first-light
data from each of its four instrument suites. These early observations – while
not yet examples of the key science observations...
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41
days
 13
hours
11
minutes
53
seconds
since launch on August 12, 2018 at 3:31 a.m. EDT (7:31 UTC)
00:00
..

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The Mission
NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission will revolutionize our
understanding of the sun

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Science Objectives Launch Journey to the Sun Where is PSP? Timeline Team

Where is Parker Solar Probe?

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Parker Solar Probe will swoop to within 4 million miles of the sun's surface,
facing heat and radiation like no spacecraft before it. Launching in 2018, Parker
Solar Probe will provide new data on solar activity and make critical
contributions to our ability to forecast major space-weather events that impact
life on Earth.
In order to unlock the mysteries of the corona, but also to protect a society that
is increasingly dependent on technology from the threats of space weather, we
will send Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun.
In 2017, the mission was renamed for Eugene Parker, the S. Chandrasekhar
Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and
Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. In the 1950s, Parker proposed a
number of concepts about how stars—including our Sun—give off energy. He
called this cascade of energy the solar wind, and he described an entire complex
system of plasmas, magnetic fields, and energetic particles that make up this
phenomenon. Parker also theorized an explanation for the superheated solar
atmosphere, the corona, which is – contrary to what was expected by physics
laws -- hotter than the surface of the sun itself. This is the first NASA mission that
has been named for a living individual.

The Sun
The sun is a dynamic star.

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Sun Earth Connections The Corona

Why Parker Solar Probe?

We live in the sun's atmosphere! This mission will provide insight on a critical link
in the Sun-Earth connection. Data will be key to understanding and, perhaps,
forecasting space weather.
We need to go so close because:

 the corona is unstable, producing the solar wind, flares and coronal mass
ejections – we need to study at the source!
 millions of tons of highly magnetized material can erupt from the sun at
speeds of several million miles an hour – fast enough to get from Washington
to LA in seconds!

Why is the corona hotter than the surface? Why is

there a solar wind?
We can only answer these questions by getting up close and
personal with our star
The concept for a "Solar Probe" dates back to "Simpson's Committee" of the
Space Science Board (National Academy of Sciences, 24 October 1958).
The need for extraordinary knowledge of sun from remote observations, theory,
and modeling to answer the questions:

 Why is the solar corona so much hotter than the photosphere?

 How is the solar wind accelerated?

The answers to these questions have been of top priority in multiple Roadmaps
and Decadal Surveys.

We live in the atmosphere of the sun.

Physics of the corona and inner heliosphere connect the activity of the sun to
the environment and technological infrastructure of Earth will:

 drive the fundamental physics of the heliosphere, aurora, and magnetosphere

of Earth and other planets
 help us improve satellite communications, power grid issues, pipeline erosion,
radiation exposure on airline flights, astronaut safety

Until we can explain what is going on up close to the sun, we will not be able to
accurately predict space weather effects that can cause havoc at Earth.

Spacecraft
Extreme Engineering

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Illuminating First Light Data from Parker Solar Probe »
Posted on 09/19/2018 12:19:52
Just over a month into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned first-light
data from each of its four instrument suites. These early observations – while
not yet examples of the key science observations Parker Solar Probe will take
closer to the Sun – show that each of the instruments is working well.
09/14/2018 15:02:34

Parker Solar Probe’s Solar Array Cooling System Fully Activated »

09/07/2018 08:18:17

360 Video: Parker Solar Probe Launch »

09/06/2018 13:23:18

Where's Parker Solar Probe? Track the Spacecraft! »