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Parker Solar Probe

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This article is about the NASA in-situ heliophysics orbiter. For the European Space Agency in-situ heliophysics orbiter, see Solar Orbiter.

Parker Solar Probe
Digital model of a spacecraft with a bus attached to a larger sun-shield. Two small solar panels are attached to the side of the bus, along with four rear-facing antennas.
Artist's impression of Parker Solar Probe
NamesSolar Probe (–2002)
Solar Probe Plus (2010–17)
Mission typeSolar heliophysics orbiter
OperatorNASA · Applied Physics Laboratory
COSPAR ID2018-065A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.43592Edit this on Wikidata
Websitesolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/%20solarprobe.jhuapl.edu
Mission duration6 years, 321 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerApplied Physics Laboratory
Launch mass610 kg (1,340 lb)
Dry mass555 kg (1,224 lb)
Payload mass50 kg (110 lb)
Dimensions1.0 m × 3.0 m × 2.3 m (3.3 ft × 9.8 ft × 7.5 ft)
Power343 W (at closest approach)
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 31–August 19, 2018 (planned)[1]
RocketDelta IV Heavy / Star-48BV[2]
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-37
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
Perihelion altitude6.0 million km; 0.040 AU (3.7 million mi)
Aphelion altitude109.3 million km; 0.730 AU (67.9 million mi)
Inclination3.4°
Period88 days
Transponders
BandKa band
X band
Artwork of the spacecraft next to the sun, enclosed in a circle with a yellow border. The words "Parker Solar Probe" are placed around the interior of the border, while the words "a mission to touch the sun" are written inline in a smaller font in the bottom right of the image.
Official insignia for the Parker Solar Probe mission

Parker Solar Probe (previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, or Solar Probe+) is a planned NASA robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the Sun.[3][4] It will approach to within 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million kilometers or 3.67 million miles) to the 'surface' (photosphere) of the Sun.[5] The project was announced as a new mission start in the fiscal 2009 budget year. On May 1, 2008 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory announced it will design and build the spacecraft, on a schedule to launch it in 2015.[6] The launch date has since been pushed back to 2018.[7] The Delta IV Heavy as launch vehicle is planned to enable the mission to be the fastest spacecraft to date .[2][8][9] On May 31, 2017 the probe was renamed after solar astrophysicist Eugene Parker.[3][10] This was the first time a NASA spacecraft was named after a living person.[11]

History

The Parker Solar Probe originates from a predecessor Solar Orbiter project conceived in the 1990s. Similar in design and objectives, the Solar Probe mission served as one of the centerpieces of the eponymous Outer Planet/Solar Probe (OPSP) program formulated by NASA. The first three missions of the program were planned to be the Solar Orbiter, the Pluto and Kuiper Belt reconnaissance mission Pluto Kuiper Express, and the Europa Orbiter astrobiology mission focused on Europa.[12][13] Following the appointment of Sean O'Keefe as Administrator of NASA, the entirety of the OPSP program was cancelled as part of President George W. Bush's request for the 2003 United States federal budget.[14] Administrator O'Keefe cited a need for a restructuring of NASA and its projects, falling in line with the Bush Administration's wish for NASA to refocus on "research and development, and addressing management shortcomings."[14]

The cancellation of the program also resulted in the initial cancellation of New Horizons, the mission that won the competition to replace Pluto Kuiper Express in the former OPSP program.[15] That mission, which would eventually be launched as the first mission of the New Frontiers program, a spiritual successor to the OPSP program, would undergo a lengthy political battle to secure funding for its launch, which occurred in 2006.[16] Plans for the Solar Probe mission would later manifest as the Solar Probe Plus in the early 2010s.[17]

Mission and trajectory

Apparent size of the Sun as seen from the orbit of Solar Probe Plus compared to its apparent size seen from Earth.

The Parker Solar Probe mission design uses repeated gravity assists at Venus to incrementally decrease the orbital perihelion to achieve multiple passes of the Sun at approximately 8.5 solar radii, or about 6 million km (3.7 million mi; 0.040 AU).[18]

The mission is designed to survive the harsh environment near the Sun, where the incident solar intensity is approximately 520 times the intensity at Earth orbit, by the use of a solar shadow-shield. The solar shield, at the front of the spacecraft, is made of reinforced carbon-carbon composite. The spacecraft systems and scientific instruments are located in the central portion of the shield's shadow (the umbra) , where direct radiation from the sun is fully blocked. The primary power for the mission will be by use of a dual system of photovoltaic arrays. A primary photovoltaic array, used for the portion of the mission outside 0.25 AU, is retracted behind the shadow shield during the close approach to the Sun, and a much smaller secondary array powers the spacecraft through closest approach. This secondary array uses pumped-fluid cooling to maintain operating temperature.[19]

As the probe passes around the Sun, it will achieve a velocity of up to 200 km/s (120 mi/s) making it by any measure, the fastest manmade object ever, almost three times faster than the current record holder, Helios 2.[20][21][22]

Scientific goals

  • Determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of solar wind.
  • Trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind.
  • Determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles.
  • Explore dusty plasma near the Sun and its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation.

Timeline

Date Event
July 31, 2018 Launch
Sep. 28, 2018 First flyby of Venus
Nov. 1, 2018 Perihelion #1
Mar. 31, 2019 Perihelion #2
Aug. 28, 2018 Perihelion #3
Dec. 21, 2019 Second flyby of Venus
Jan. 24, 2020 Perihelion #4
June 2, 2020 Perihelion #5
July 6, 2020 Third flyby of Venus
Sep. 22, 2020 Perihelion #6
Jan. 13, 2021 Perihelion #7
Feb. 16, 2021 Fourth flyby of Venus
Apr. 24, 2021 Perihelion #8
Aug. 5, 2021 Perihelion #9
Oct. 11, 2021 Fifth flyby of Venus
Nov. 16, 2021 Perihelion #10
Feb. 21, 2022 Perihelion #11
May 28, 2022 Perihelion #12
Sep. 1, 2022 Perihelion #13
Dec. 6, 2022 Perihelion #14
Mar. 13, 2023 Perihelion #15
June 17, 2023 Perihelion #16
Aug. 16, 2023 Sixth flyby of Venus
Sep. 23, 2023 Perihelion #17
Dec. 24, 2023 Perihelion #18
Mar. 25, 2024 Perihelion #19
Jun. 25, 2024 Perihelion #20
Sep. 25, 2024 Perihelion #21
Nov. 2, 2024 Seventh flyby of Venus
Dec. 19, 2024 First close approach to Sun
Mar. 18, 2025 Perihelion #23
June 14, 2025 Perihelion #24

After the first Venus fly-by, the probe will be in an elliptical orbit with a period of 150 days (two-thirds the period of Venus), making three orbits while Venus makes two. On the second fly-by, the period shortens to 130 days. After less than two orbits (only 198 days later) it encounters Venus a third time at a point earlier in the orbit of Venus. This encounter shortens its period to half of that of Venus, or about 112.5 days. After two orbits it meets Venus a fourth time at about the same place, shortening its period to about 102 days. After 237 days it meets Venus for the fifth time and its period is shortened to about 96 days, three-sevenths that of Venus. It then makes seven orbits while Venus makes three. The sixth encounter, almost two years after the fifth, brings its period down to 92 days, two-fifths that of Venus. After five more orbits (two orbits of Venus) it meets Venus for the seventh and last time, decreasing its period to 88 or 89 days and allowing it to approach close to the sun.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Parker Solar Probe". NASA. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Clark, Stephen (March 18, 2015). "Delta 4-Heavy selected for launch of solar probe". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Chang, Kenneth (May 31, 2017). "Newly Named NASA Spacecraft Will Aim Straight for the Sun". New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Applied Physics Laboratory (November 19, 2008). "Feasible Mission Designs for Solar Probe Plus to Launch in 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018" (.PDF). Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved February 27, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Tony Phillips (June 10, 2010). "NASA Plans to Visit the Sun". NASA. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  6. ^ M. Buckley (May 1, 2008). "NASA Calls on APL to Send a Probe to the Sun". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  7. ^ M. Buckley (March 5, 2012). "NASA Solar Study Mission Moves to Next Design Stage". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Scharf, Caleb A. "The Fastest Spacecraft Ever?". Scientific American Blog Network.
  9. ^ Bruno, Tory (July 21, 2017). "PSP launch vehicle tweet". @torybruno.
  10. ^ N. Davis (May 31, 2017). "Nasa's hotly anticipated solar mission renamed to honour astrophysicist Eugene Parker". The Guardian. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  11. ^ "NASA Renames Solar Probe Mission to Honor Pioneering Physicist Eugene Parker". NASA. May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  12. ^ "Mcnamee Chosen to Head NASA's Outer Planets/Solar Probe Projects". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). April 15, 1998. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  13. ^ Maddock, R.W.; Clark, K.B.; Henry, C.A.; Hoffman, P.J. (March 7, 1999). "The Outer Planets/Solar Probe Project: "Between an ocean, a rock, and a hot place"". IEEE Xplore. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers · Institution of Engineering and Technology. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Berger, Brian (February 4, 2002). "NASA Kills Europa Orbiter; Revamps Planetary Exploration". Space.com. Purch Group. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; February 10, 2002 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Savage, Donald (November 29, 2001). "NASA Selects Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission Phase B Study". National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  16. ^ Hand, Eric (June 25, 2015). "Feature: How Alan Stern's tenacity, drive, and command got a NASA spacecraft to Pluto". Science (journal). American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  17. ^ Fazekas, Andrew (September 10, 2010). "New NASA Probe to Dive-bomb the Sun". National Geographic. 21st Century Fox / National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  18. ^ "Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun:". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. September 4, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  19. ^ G.A. Landis, P. C. Schmitz, J. Kinnison, M. Fraeman, L. Fourbert, S. Vernon and M. Wirzburger, "Solar Power System Design for the Solar Probe+ Mission," AIAA Paper-2008-5712, International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, Cleveland OH, 28–30 July 2008.
  20. ^ "Aircraft Speed Records". Aerospaceweb.org. November 13, 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  21. ^ "Fastest spacecraft speed". guinnessworldrecords.com. July 26, 2015. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  22. ^ Parker Solar Probe - Check123, Video Encyclopedia, retrieved June 1, 2017
  23. ^ See data and figure at "Solar Probe Plus: The Mission". Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. 2017.
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