{"id":18403,"date":"2018-08-12T20:43:08","date_gmt":"2018-08-12T12:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/fastest-closest-hottest-nasas-parker-solar-probe-blasts-off-to-touch-the-sun\/"},"modified":"2018-08-12T20:43:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-12T12:43:08","slug":"fastest-closest-hottest-nasas-parker-solar-probe-blasts-off-to-touch-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/fastest-closest-hottest-nasas-parker-solar-probe-blasts-off-to-touch-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Fastest, closest, hottest: NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe blasts off to \u2018touch the sun\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_439980\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-439980\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-439980\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180812-parker-630x400.jpg\" alt=\"Parker Solar Probe launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180812-parker-630x400.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180812-parker-768x487.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180812-parker-1260x799.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/180812-parker.jpg 1695w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-439980\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket sends NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe spaceward from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA today sent a super-shielded spacecraft known as the Parker Solar Probe on a mission that will take it closer to the sun than any other spacecraft has flown, with the probe\u2019s namesake, a 91-year-old physicist, watching the launch.<\/p>\n<p>A blazing United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket rose into the night sky from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:31 a.m. ET (12:31 a.m. PT), one day after concerns over a data glitch forced a postponement.<\/p>\n<p>Three rocket stages powered the probe on the first leg of its sunward journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll I can say is, wow, here we go, we\u2019re in for some learning over the next several years,\u201d University of Chicago solar physicist Eugene Parker said just after liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>The car-sized observatory is designed to endure temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit as it flies within 4 million miles of the sun\u2019s surface. That\u2019s almost 10 times closer than Mercury gets, and seven times closer than any previous probe.<\/p>\n<p>Its maximum velocity around the sun will reach 430,000 mph, making it the fastest human-made object to orbit a celestial body.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists hope to shed light on the workings of our closest star&nbsp;\u2014 including the dynamics of the solar wind of electrically charged particles, and the reason why the sun\u2019s outer atmosphere, or corona, is hundreds of times hotter than the sun\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only way we can do that is to finally go up and touch the sun,\u201d the $1.5 billion mission\u2019s project scientist, Nicola Fox of Johns Hopkins University\u2019s Applied Physics Laboratory, told reporters in advance of today\u2019s launch. \u201cWe\u2019ve looked at it, we\u2019ve studied it from missions that are close in&nbsp;\u2014 even as close as the planet Mercury&nbsp;\u2014 but we have to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"NASA | Parker Solar Probe: It's Surprisingly Hard to Go to the Sun\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MvKvX-niMLA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been 60 years since Parker came up with the theory behind the solar wind and the strong outbursts that can cripple communications and electric grids on Earth. But it\u2019s only been in the past few years that scientists and engineers could put together a space mission capable of going close enough to get the data to back up the theory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had to wait so long for our technology to catch up with our dreams,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n<p>The Parker Solar Probe won\u2019t touch the sun\u2019s surface, but it will monitor its electric and magnetic fields as well as the flow of plasma and solar-wind particles through the corona. The probe\u2019s instrument payload also includes a white-light camera that will take the kinds of pictures of the shimmering corona that are seen on Earth only during a total solar eclipse.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of nearly seven years and 24 solar orbits, the probe will make use of seven Venus flybys to adjust its trajectory. \u201cWe actually slow down just a little bit, and that allows us to shrink our orbit,\u201d Fox explained.<\/p>\n<p>The spacecraft is equipped with a 4.5-inch-thick, 8-foot-wide carbon composite shield that should keep the electronics at their proper operating temperature even amid temperatures that would melt aluminum. The probe\u2019s power-generating solar arrays are water-cooled to keep them from overheating.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, the probe will run out of fuel for its thrusters and lose its protective orientation. When that happens, the sun\u2019s heat will turn it into a fried disk of carbon, and then break it down even further into flecks of debris. But if the mission goes as planned, the probe\u2019s discoveries will serve as a lasting legacy to Eugene Parker, the only living person to have a NASA spacecraft named after him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really have to turn from biting my nails and getting it launched to thinking about all the interesting things which I don\u2019t know yet, and which will be made clear, I assume, over the next five or six or seven years,\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole new phase, and it\u2019s going to be fascinating throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1028545295523635200&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2018%2Ffastest-closest-hottest-nasas-parker-solar-probe-blasts-off-touch-sun%2F&amp;sessionId=30a626e4ffdf6a34c931a2cf3d22931fdfdd91d5&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1028545295523635200\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802671477667877=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">3-2-1\u2026 and we have liftoff of Parker #SolarProbe atop @ULAlaunch\u2019s #DeltaIV Heavy rocket. Tune in as we broadcast our mission to \u201ctouch\u201d the Sun: https:\/\/t.co\/T3F4bqeATB pic.twitter.com\/Ah4023Vfvn<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA (@NASA) August 12, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket sends NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe spaceward from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (NASA via YouTube) NASA today sent a super-shielded spacecraft known as the Parker Solar Probe on a mission that will take it closer to the sun than any other spacecraft has flown, with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1408,190,1863,2170],"class_list":["post-18403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-delta-4-heavy","tag-nasa","tag-parker-solar-probe","tag-sun"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}