Parker Solar Probe facts for kids
Model of the Parker Solar Probe
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| Names | Solar Probe (before 2002) Solar Probe Plus (2010–2017) Parker Solar Probe (since 2017) |
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| Mission type | Heliophysics |
| Operator | NASA / Applied Physics Laboratory |
| Mission duration | 7 years (planned) Elapsed: 6 years, 10 months and 27 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Applied Physics Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 685 kg (1,510 lb) |
| Dry mass | 555 kg (1,224 lb) |
| Payload mass | 50 kg (110 lb) |
| Dimensions | 1.0 m × 3.0 m × 2.3 m (3.3 ft × 9.8 ft × 7.5 ft) |
| Power | 343 W (at closest approach) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 12 August 2018, 07:31 UTC |
| Rocket | Delta IV Heavy / Star-48BV |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-37 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
| Semi-major axis | 0.388 AU (58.0 million km; 36.1 million mi) |
| Perihelion | 0.046 AU (6.9 million km; 4.3 million mi; 9.86 R☉) |
| Aphelion | 0.73 AU (109 million km; 68 million mi) |
| Inclination | 3.4° |
| Period | 88 days |
| Sun | |
 The official insignia for the mission. Large Strategic Science Missions
Heliophysics Division |
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The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) is a NASA space probe launched in 2018. Its main job is to study the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona. It also looks at the solar wind, which is a stream of particles flowing from the Sun.
This probe gets super close to the Sun, about 6.9 million kilometers (4.3 million miles) away. By 2025, it will be traveling incredibly fast, around 690,000 kilometers per hour (430,000 miles per hour). This makes it the fastest object ever built by humans on Earth.
The idea for this project was announced in 2009. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory designed and built the spacecraft. It was launched on August 12, 2018. The probe was named after Eugene Parker, a famous physicist. He was the first living person to have a NASA spacecraft named after him.
A special memory card was placed on the probe. It holds the names of over 1.1 million people who wanted to be part of this mission. The card also has photos of Eugene Parker and a copy of his important 1958 science paper about the Sun.
On October 29, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe became the closest artificial object to the Sun. It broke the old record set by the Helios 2 spacecraft in 1976. The probe continues to set new records as it gets closer to the Sun with each pass.
Why Study the Sun?
The Parker Solar Probe has three main goals:
- Understand the Sun's heat: Scientists want to know how the Sun's outer atmosphere (the corona) gets so hot. It's much hotter than the surface of the Sun! They also want to learn how the solar wind gets its speed.
* How does energy from the Sun's lower atmosphere move into the corona and solar wind? * What makes the particles in the solar wind move the way they do? * How do things happening in the corona affect the solar wind?
- Study the solar wind's start: The probe looks at the magnetic fields and plasma (superheated gas) where the solar wind begins.
* How do the Sun's magnetic fields connect from its surface to the solar wind? * Is the solar wind always flowing, or does it come out in bursts? * How do the structures we see in the corona turn into the solar wind?
- Explore energetic particles: The mission investigates how fast-moving particles from the Sun are created and travel through space.
* What roles do things like shocks and waves play in speeding up these particles? * What conditions are needed for these energetic particles to form? * How do these particles travel through the corona and beyond?
The Mission's Journey
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The Parker Solar Probe launched on August 12, 2018. Everything worked perfectly after launch. In its first week, it set up its main antenna and other instruments. It also made its first small course correction.
In September 2018, the probe's instruments started working. Its two WISPR cameras took their first pictures, showing wide-angle views of the sky.
The probe uses Venus to help it get closer to the Sun. It does this by performing "gravity assists" or "flybys." During a flyby, the probe uses Venus's gravity to slow down and change its path, moving it into an orbit closer to the Sun.
When the probe is closest to the Sun (this part is called the "Science Phase"), it actively collects data. During this time, it's hard to communicate with the probe because its heat shield has to face the Sun, blocking signals to Earth. Also, the Sun's radiation can interfere with communication.
The probe spends a few days before and after each close approach collecting scientific information. The rest of its orbit is used to send this data back to Earth.
The probe has made several flybys of Venus. Each flyby helps it get into a tighter, faster orbit around the Sun. The last Venus flyby is planned for November 2024. This will allow the probe to make its closest approaches to the Sun.
Key Discoveries
The Parker Solar Probe has already made exciting discoveries about the Sun:
- Magnetic Switchbacks: In November 2018, the probe saw "magnetic switchbacks." These are sudden flips in the Sun's magnetic field within the solar wind. They were first seen by another spacecraft called Ulysses. Scientists think these switchbacks help heat the Sun's corona.
- Solar Wind Secrets: In December 2019, scientists shared early findings. The probe found frequent, quick changes in the Sun's magnetic field. These changes confirm that Alfvén waves are important for understanding why the corona is so hot. The probe saw thousands of "rogue" magnetic waves that can suddenly speed up the solar wind by huge amounts, sometimes even reversing the magnetic field.
- Dust-Free Zone: The probe found an area around the Sun, about 5.6 million kilometers (3.5 million miles) wide, where there's no cosmic dust. This is because the Sun's heat vaporizes the dust particles.
- Touching the Sun: On April 28, 2021, the Parker Solar Probe actually entered the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the Alfvén surface. NASA called this moment "touching the Sun." It was a huge step in understanding our star.
- Comet Discoveries: The probe has also helped discover many comets! In September 2022, the first comet, PSP-001, was found in its images. Since then, 19 more "sungrazer" comets (comets that pass very close to the Sun) have been found using the probe's pictures.
- Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability: In 2024, the probe detected a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability during a coronal mass ejection. This was the first time this event, which scientists had only theorized about, was actually seen by a spacecraft.
Images for kids
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A light bar testing in the Astrotech processing facility.
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The thermal testing of the spacecraft.
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An apparent size of the Sun as seen from Parker Solar Probe at perihelion compared to its apparent size seen from Earth.
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Schematic view of all PSP's instruments
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Launch of Parker Solar Probe in 2018.
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WISPR first light image. The right portion of the image is from WISPR's inner telescope, which is a 40-degree field of view and begins 58.5 degrees from the Sun's center. The left portion is from the outer telescope, which is a 58-degree field of view and ends about 160 degrees from the Sun.
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The view from the probe's WISPR instrument on Sept. 25, 2018, shows Earth, the bright sphere near the middle of the right-hand panel. The elongated mark toward the bottom of the panel is a lens reflection from the WISPR instrument.
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Photo from the WISPR shows a coronal streamer, seen over the east limb of the Sun on Nov. 8, 2018, at 1:12 a.m. EST. The fine structure of the streamer is very clear, with at least two rays visible. Parker Solar Probe was about 16.9 million miles (21.2 million km) from the Sun's surface when this image was taken. The bright object near the center of the image is Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction.
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When Parker Solar Probe was making its closest approach to the Sun on June 7, 2020, WISPR captured the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in its field of view.
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Photo taken by the probe during its second Venus flyby, July 2020.
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As Parker Solar Probe flew by Venus on its fourth flyby, its WISPR instrument captured these images, showing the nightside surface of the planet.
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See also
In Spanish: Sonda Solar Parker para niños
- Living With a Star
- Advanced Composition Explorer, launched 1997
- List of vehicle speed records
- Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, launched 1995
- Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO, launched 2010
- STEREO, launched 2006
- TRACE, launched 1998
- WIND, launched 1994
- Ulysses
- Spacecraft thermal control
- MESSENGER, Mercury orbiter (2011–2015) with sun shield
- Solar Orbiter, Sun-observing space probe developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) launched on 10 February 2020
