Solar Probe Plus

Next flight up for the Delta IVH & only the second non-classified civilian flight for the launcher since it has been in regular service after the Orion boilerplate test flight.
 
I think that Solar Probe was an idea first proposed back in the 1950s, although it could have been 1964. It took a long time for a bunch of things to happen to make it possible. That included technology development, but also time for enough people to declare that it was important to do.

The concepts have evolved a lot. Back around 2006 or so the concept for Solar Probe involved several RTGs (nuclear batteries) because they did not know how to use solar panels that close to the sun. There was some technology development that enabled them to come up with high temperature systems so they could do the mission with solar.

If you want to see some clever design, look into the design for the solar panels on SP+. The panels actually retract as they get close to the sun, but they have small tips that still stick out a little bit to provide some power.
 
There were allot solar probes proposals in 1960s and 1970s

Most used RTGs (nuclear batteries) because the detour to get to sun via Jupiter !
there it get sling shot by Jupiter gravity toward the sun.
after a 5 year trip the probe would burn up as it approach Sun surface
 
Renamed to "Parker Solar Probe"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGU8MEGtnks
 
blackstar said:
I was hoping for something cool like "Sundiver."

Sundiver has some horrible thermodynamics. (The "refrigerator laser" is a nonsense concept, basically.)
 
Before someone ask "Sundiver" ?

That's from Sci-fi Novel by David Brin
were manned spacecraft "Sundiver" work on sun surface for explore the "sun-ghosts"
they use "refrigerator laser" to cool down the Spacecraft

"refrigerator laser" are used in physics experiment
were atomic and molecular samples are cooled down to near absolute zero by the interaction with laser beam.
it was proposed several time as cooling system for spacecraft, but no working prototype yet.
biggest problem is to upend the machinery so exterior is cooled not the internal core..

source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cooling
 
Hi,

Slightly off topic so please be kind for this parenthesis.
John Mastin, in 1909, devised the first "concept" of a flying machine plunging through the Sun: an airship.
And even further back, right in the middle of the 17th century, Savien Cyrano de Bergerac also devised a conceptual crystal-like or glass-looking spaceship to visit the Sun.
The English translation exhibits a remarkable plate (see attachment) which is still barely known, and reprinted in Dream Machines.

Well, just my two cents.

And yes, again, I do know this is slightly off topic. But these very old advanced propulsion and exploratory concepts found in early sci-fi are part of a pet project I've pursued over the last 30 years. And I couldn't help posting something about that here.

So… just enjoy.

A.
 

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a27107/parker-solar-probe-cooling-system-sun-atmosphere/
 
Delta IV Heavy Booster Cores Arrive for Parker Solar Probe

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/08/02/delta-iv-heavy-booster-cores-arrive-for-parker-solar-probe/
 
Parker Solar Probe Gets its Revolutionary Heat Shield: Time Lapse

NASA.gov Video
Published on Sep 26, 2017


In this time-lapse video taken on Sept. 21, 2017, the thermal protection system – the heat shield -- for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft is shown during installation at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. This 4.5-inch thick, eight-foot diameter shield protects the spacecraft and its instruments against the intense heat and energy of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, through which the spacecraft will fly on a mission of extreme exploration. The thermal protection system is made of a carbon-carbon composite material with a special outer coating that will reach temperatures of nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat shield was placed on the probe for a test of alignment as part of integration and testing, but it will soon be removed. Both spacecraft and shield will continue separate testing processes and then be re-integrated just before launch in summer 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmSU6rJUtw?t=001
 
Lasers Fired At NASA's Parker Solar Probe

NASA Goddard
Published on Dec 6, 2017

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is in the midst of intense environmental testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in preparation for its journey to the Sun. These tests simulate the noise and shaking the spacecraft will experience during its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled for 2018.

Parker Solar Probe’s integration and the testing team must check over the spacecraft and systems to make sure everything is still in optimal working condition after experiencing these rigorous conditions – including a check of the solar arrays, which will provide electrical power to the spacecraft.

Parker Solar Probe will explore the Sun's outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of stars. The resulting data will also help improve how we forecast major eruptions on the Sun and subsequent space weather events that can impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space. The mission is named for Eugene N. Parker, whose profound insights into solar physics and processes have helped shape the field of heliophysics.

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Joy Ng (USRA): Producer
Sarah Frazier (ADNET SYSTEMS): Writer
Lee Hobson (APL): Videographer

Music credit: 'Push Away' by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], Mikey Rowe [PRS] from Killer Tracks.

This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12795

If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRjerxUYJ4
 
Spacecraft now at KSC with launch scheduled for 31 July.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glu9s-cOPr0
 
NASA studying sensor issue with Parker Solar Probe

As those preparations continue, officials are studying problems with devices known as platinum resistance thermometers that are part of the spacecraft’s thermal control system. Those devices have suffered a higher-than-expected failure rate, according to a presentation at an April 5 meeting of NASA’s Heliophysics Advisory Committee.

The thermometers are lightweight, highly sensitive temperature sensors used to help provide feedback to the spacecraft’s cooling system and solar arrays, NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said April 9. “We put all spacecraft through a rigorous test program to make sure all systems are working as designed and it is normal for a test program to uncover issues.”

“The team is looking very carefully at whether any change is needed,” Peg Luce, acting director of NASA’s heliophysics division, said at the meeting. The issue, she said, was debated “quite significantly” at a review last week to approve the shipment of the spacecraft to Florida, including whether to delay that shipment to study the problem.

“There are certain, possible fixes if we need to fix something that could be done at the Cape, so the decision was to go ahead and ship,” she said.

http://spacenews.com/nasa-studying-sensor-issue-with-parker-solar-probe/
 
ULA’s heavy-lifter rolled out for solar probe launch

Gearing up for a predawn blastoff July 31, launch crews have positioned a Delta 4-Heavy rocket in the starting blocks on a seaside launch complex at Cape Canaveral as engineers inside a tightly-controlled clean room a few miles away put the final touches on a NASA probe that will travel closer to the sun than any mission before.

The mission’s key components were on the move earlier this month, with the Parker Solar Probe’s shipment from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to Florida’s Space Coast on April 3. After arriving in Florida aboard a U.S. Air Force cargo plane, the spacecraft was trucked to a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/27/ulas-heavy-lifter-rolled-out-for-solar-probe-launch/
 
Old IMAX projectors simulate Sun in key test for Parker Solar Probe

Making sure a critical sensor that will fly aboard NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe will work properly when the spacecraft is being blasted by fierce light and radiation a scant 6.2 million kilometres (3.9 million miles) from the Sun is no small task.

But researchers at the University of Michigan who manage the spacecraft’s Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation – SWEAP – came up with a novel solution. They bought four vintage IMAX movie projectors on eBay for a few thousand dollars each that could be rigged to simulate the expected heat at close range to Earth’s star.

The SWEAP sensor, known as a Faraday cup, was mounted in a vacuum chamber at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., that was pumped down to one-billionth of an atmosphere. The light from the four projectors was directed into the chamber and onto the Faraday cup.

“It turns out a movie theatre bulb on an IMAX projector runs at about the same 5,700 degrees Kelvin, the same effective temperature as the surface of the Sun,” Justin Kasper, the instrument’s principal investigator at the University of Michigan, said in a release. “And it gives off nearly the same spectrum of light as the surface.”

https://youtu.be/gPtNhOGZCdc

https://astronomynow.com/2018/05/01/old-imax-projectors-simulate-sun-in-key-test-for-parker-solar-probe/
 
How NASA's Parker Solar Probe Will Survive the Sun

NASA
Published on Jul 20, 2018

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is heading to the Sun.Thermal Protection System Engineer Betsy Congdon (Johns Hopkins APL) outlines why Parker can take the heat. More: https://go.nasa.gov/2O7YKsK | NASA launch schedule: https://go.nasa.gov/2JfklMB

Music credit: Cheeky Chappy [Main Track] by Jimmy Kaleth, Ross Andrew McLean Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Genna Duberstein (USRA): Lead Producer/Lead Editor Rob Andreoli (AIMM): Lead Videographer Betsy Congdon (Johns Hopkins University/APL): Lead Engineer Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Narrator Genna Duberstein (USRA): Writer Steve Gribben (Johns Hopkins University/APL ): Animator Brian Monroe (USRA): Animator Josh Masters (USRA): Animator Michael Lentz (USRA): Animator Genna Duberstein (USRA): Animator Mary P. Hrybyk-Keith (TRAX International Corporation): Illustrator This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12867

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT9laVHZZQo
 
Parker Solar Probe--Mission Overview


NASA Goddard
Published on Jul 20, 2018

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, NASA 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_z19KPvV1w
 
Parker Solar Probe Trailer


NASA Goddard
Published on Jul 20, 2018

Parker Solar Probe is NASA's mission to the Sun. The spacecraft will launch summer 2018.

Learn more at www.nasa.gov/solarprobe.

Music credit: Luminous Skies [Underscore] by Andrew Prahlow

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Genna Duberstein (USRA): Lead Producer
Steve Gribben (Johns Hopkins University/APL ): Animator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLwdS3zBGhg
 
Delta IV Parker Solar Probe: Launching the Fastest Human-made Object

United Launch Alliance
Published on Jul 20, 2018

ULA Trajectory Engineer Nick Driver on launching NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission atop ULA's Delta IV Heavy rocket. Usually used for large satellites, in this case the heavy lifter is being used to give a small spacecraft a high-energy delivery to the sun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77SG1EVBocQ
 
Parker Solar Probe Approaches Second Solar Encounter

Sarah Frazier Posted on March 28, 2019

On March 30, 2019, Parker Solar Probe begins the second solar encounter phase of its mission, culminating in its closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, on April 4.

During this solar encounter phase, which lasts until April 10, the spacecraft’s four suites of science instruments are fully operational and storing science data collected from within the Sun’s corona. As designed, Parker Solar Probe will be out of contact with Earth for several days during the solar encounter. This allows the spacecraft to prioritize keeping its heat shield, called the Thermal Protection System, oriented towards the Sun, rather than pointing its transmitter towards Earth. Science data from this second solar encounter phase will downlink to Earth over several weeks later in spring 2019.

Like the mission’s first orbit, Parker Solar Probe will reach a perihelion of about 15 million miles from the Sun’s surface — meeting its own record for closest-ever approach to the Sun, a little more than half the previous record distance of about 27 million miles set by Helios 2 in 1976. The spacecraft’s top speed of about 213,200 miles per hour is also the same as the first solar encounter of the mission. In December 2019, Parker Solar Probe will perform the second of seven Venus gravity assists of its mission, setting up the trajectory that will carry the spacecraft closer to the Sun and to a higher top speed.

By Sarah Frazier

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2019/03/28/parker-solar-probe-approaches-second-solar-encounter/
 
Parker Solar Probe Completes Second Close Approach to the Sun

Sarah Frazier Posted on April 5, 2019

Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its second close approach to the Sun, called perihelion, and is now entering the outbound phase of its second solar orbit. At 6:40 p.m. EDT on April 4, 2019, the spacecraft passed within 15 million miles of our star, tying its distance record as the closest spacecraft ever to the Sun; Parker Solar Probe was traveling at 213,200 miles per hour during this perihelion.

The Parker Solar Probe mission team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland scheduled a contact with the spacecraft via the Deep Space Network for four hours around the perihelion and monitored the health of the spacecraft throughout this critical part of the encounter. Parker Solar Probe sent back beacon status “A” throughout its second perihelion, indicating that the spacecraft is operating well and all instruments are collecting science data.

“The spacecraft is performing as designed, and it was great to be able to track it during this entire perihelion,” said Nickalaus Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at APL.

"We're looking forward to getting the science data down from this encounter in the coming weeks so the science teams can continue to explore the mysteries of the corona and the Sun.”

Parker Solar Probe began this solar encounter on March 30, and it will conclude on April 10. The solar encounter phase is roughly defined as when the spacecraft is within 0.25 AU — or 23,250,000 miles — of the Sun. One AU, or astronomical unit, is about 93 million miles, the average distance from the Sun to Earth.

By Geoff Brown

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2019/04/05/parker-solar-probe-completes-second-close-approach-to-the-sun/
 
Parker Solar Probe Completes Download of Science Data from First Two Solar Encounters
Posted on 08/01/2019 11:32:38
As NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaches its third encounter with the Sun, mission scientists are hard at work poring over data from the spacecraft's first two flybys of our star — and thanks to excellent performance by the spacecraft and the mission operations team, they're about to get something extra.

On May 6, 2019, just over a month after Parker Solar Probe completed its second solar encounter, the final transmission of 22 gigabytes of planned science data — collected during the first two encounters — was downlinked by the mission team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland.

This 22 GB is 50% more data than the team had estimated would be downlinked by this point in the mission — all because the spacecraft's telecommunications system is performing better than pre-launch estimates. After characterizing the spacecraft’s operations during the commissioning phase, which began soon after launch, the Parker mission team determined that the telecom system could effectively deliver more downlink opportunities, helping the team maximize the download of science data.

The team has capitalized on the higher downlink rate, instructing Parker Solar Probe to record and send back extra science data gathered during its second solar encounter. This additional 25 GB of science data will be downlinked to Earth between July 24 and Aug. 15.


“All of the expected science data collected through the first and second encounters is now on the ground,” said Nickalaus Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at APL. “As we learned more about operating in this environment and these orbits, the team did a great job of increasing data downloads of the information gathered by the spacecraft’s amazing instruments.”

There are four instrument suites on Parker, gathering data on particles, waves, and fields related to the Sun’s corona and the solar environment. Scientists use this information — gathered closer to the Sun than any previous measurements — along with data from other satellites and scientific models to expand on what we currently know about the Sun and how it behaves. Data collected during the first two perihelia will be made available to the public later this year.



Parker Solar Probe continues on its record-breaking exploration of the Sun with its third solar encounter beginning Aug. 27, 2019; the spacecraft’s third perihelion will occur on Sept. 1.

- Geoff Brown, Johns Hopkins APL

 
Parker Solar Probe Gets Extra Observation Time

Sarah Frazier Posted on August 16, 2019

After Parker Solar Probe’s successful first year in space, the mission team has decided to extend science observations as the spacecraft approaches its third solar encounter.

Parker Solar Probe turned on its four instrument suites on Aug. 16, 2019 — earlier than during its previous two solar encounters, extending the observation period from 11 days to about 35 days.

During the spacecraft’s first two solar encounters, the science instruments were turned on when Parker was about 0.25 AU from the Sun and powered off again at the same distance on the outbound side of the orbit. (One AU, or astronomical unit, is about 93 million miles, the average distance between the Sun and Earth.) For this third solar encounter, the mission team turned on the instruments when the spacecraft was around 0.45 AU from the Sun on the inbound side of its orbit and will turn them off when the spacecraft is about 0.5 AU from the Sun on the outbound side.

“We’ve seen very intriguing phenomena below 0.25 AU, and are confident we will see interesting things all the way out to 0.5 AU,” said Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “We cannot wait to see how this extended campaign data will compare to our previous data collected during the shorter periods and to the data from previous missions, such as Helios.”

The extended observation time before and after Parker Solar Probe’s perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun during a given orbit — will let scientists capture the evolution of the solar wind over greater distances as it travels away from the Sun. They also hope the additional data will yield more insight into the energetic particles surrounding the Sun, the corona and the overall solar environment.

The data gathered during this period will start downlinking immediately at the end of the extended campaign. The data from the first two encounters will be released to the public in 2019. Parker Solar Probe’s third perihelion will occur on Sept. 1.

By Justyna Surowiec

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab

 
Parker Solar Probe Gets Extra Observation Time

Sarah Frazier Posted on August 16, 2019

After Parker Solar Probe’s successful first year in space, the mission team has decided to extend science observations as the spacecraft approaches its third solar encounter.

Parker Solar Probe turned on its four instrument suites on Aug. 16, 2019 — earlier than during its previous two solar encounters, extending the observation period from 11 days to about 35 days.

During the spacecraft’s first two solar encounters, the science instruments were turned on when Parker was about 0.25 AU from the Sun and powered off again at the same distance on the outbound side of the orbit. (One AU, or astronomical unit, is about 93 million miles, the average distance between the Sun and Earth.) For this third solar encounter, the mission team turned on the instruments when the spacecraft was around 0.45 AU from the Sun on the inbound side of its orbit and will turn them off when the spacecraft is about 0.5 AU from the Sun on the outbound side.

“We’ve seen very intriguing phenomena below 0.25 AU, and are confident we will see interesting things all the way out to 0.5 AU,” said Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “We cannot wait to see how this extended campaign data will compare to our previous data collected during the shorter periods and to the data from previous missions, such as Helios.”

The extended observation time before and after Parker Solar Probe’s perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun during a given orbit — will let scientists capture the evolution of the solar wind over greater distances as it travels away from the Sun. They also hope the additional data will yield more insight into the energetic particles surrounding the Sun, the corona and the overall solar environment.

The data gathered during this period will start downlinking immediately at the end of the extended campaign. The data from the first two encounters will be released to the public in 2019. Parker Solar Probe’s third perihelion will occur on Sept. 1.

By Justyna Surowiec

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab



Good news for the Parker Solar Probe, cannot wait to see the data from the first two encounters. :cool:
 
Parker Solar Probe Completes Third Close Approach of the Sun
Posted on 09/03/2019 10:32:43
At just before 1:50 pm EDT on Sept. 1, 2019, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its third close approach (or perihelion) of the Sun. At the time of perihelion, the spacecraft was about 15 million miles from the Sun’s surface, traveling at more than 213,200 miles per hour.

Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland received a green “A” beacon from the spacecraft soon after perihelion, meaning all systems were performing as designed and that the spacecraft was in good health.

This third encounter, which was at approximately the same distance from the Sun and speed as the first two, differs in that the spacecraft’s four instrument suites have been on and gathering data for a longer period than other perihelia.

For this third solar encounter, the mission team turned on the instruments when the spacecraft was around 0.45 astronomical unit (1 AU, or astronomical unit, is about 93 million miles, the average distance between the Sun and Earth) from the Sun on the inbound side of its orbit. The instruments will be turned off when Parker Solar Probe is about 0.5 AU from the Sun on the outbound side, which will occur on about Sept. 20. For the prior two perihelia, the instruments were on from .25 AU prior to and after completing the close approach.

-Geoff Brown, APL
 
At 4:37 a.m. EST on Jan. 29, 2020, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe broke speed and distance records as it completed its fourth close approach of the Sun. The spacecraft traveled 11.6 million miles from the Sun’s surface at perihelion, reaching a speed of 244,225 miles per hour. These achievements topple Parker Solar Probe’s own previous records for closest spacecraft to the Sun — previously about 15 million miles from the Sun’s surface — and fastest human-made object, before roughly 213,200 miles per hour.

Parker Solar Probe will continue to fly ever closer to the Sun on its seven-year journey, exploring regions of space never visited before and providing scientists with key measurements to help unveil the mysteries of the solar corona and wind.

As with most of Parker Solar Probe’s close approaches, the spacecraft is out of contact with Earth for several days around perihelion.

 

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