Solar Probe Plus – Delta IV H/Star-48BV – Canaveral SLC-37B – 12.08.2018 в 07:31 UTC

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tnt22

https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/missions-details/2018/08/12/united-launch-alliance-successfully-launches-nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-spacecraft

https://www.ulalaunch.com/about/news-detail/2018/08/12/united-launch-alliance-successfully-launches-nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-spacecraft

ЦитироватьUnited Launch Alliance Successfully Launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe Spacecraft

Delta IV Parker Solar Probe Mission Booklet
Photos: Delta IV Parker Solar Probe

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., (Aug. 11, 2018) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex-37 on Aug. 12 at 3:31 a.m. EDT. NASA selected ULA's Delta IV Heavy for its unique ability to deliver the necessary energy to begin the Parker Solar Probe's journey to the sun.

The Delta IV Heavy is the nation's proven heavy lift launch vehicle, delivering high-priority missions for NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. With its advanced cryogenic upper stage, Delta IV Heavy can deliver more than 14,000 pounds directly to geosynchronous orbit, as well as a wide variety of complex interplanetary trajectories.

"The unique requirements of this mission made the Delta IV Heavy the perfect launch vehicle to deliver Parker Solar Probe into orbit with the highest precision," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. "Congratulations to our team and mission partners, we are proud to launch this exceptional spacecraft that will provide invaluable scientific information benefiting all of humankind."

This mission was launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy, which is comprised of three common core boosters each powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines producing a combined total of more than 2.1 million pounds of thrust. The second stage was powered by an AR RL10B-2 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine. Due to the extremely high energy required for this mission, the Delta IV Heavy's capability was enhanced by a powerful third stage provided by Northrop Grumman.

This was the 37th launch of the Delta IV rocket, and the 10th in the Heavy configuration. It also marks ULA's sixth launch in 2018 and the 129th successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006.
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ULA's next launch is the ICESat-2 mission for NASA on what will be the final Delta II mission. The launch is scheduled for Sept.15 at Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 125 satellites to orbit that aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, unlock the mysteries of our solar system, provide critical capabilities for troops in the field and enable personal device-based GPS navigation.
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ЦитироватьTory Bruno ретвитнул(а)

Jake Robins‏ @JakeOnOrbit 2 ч. назад

The third stage of the Delta IVH carrying #ParkerSolarProbe is a pretty classic solid stage. It's been in use for a long time, like with the New Horizons planetary mission.


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ЦитироватьDr. Eugene Parker Reacts To Parker Solar Probe Launch
Доступ по ссылке

NASA Video

Дата загрузки: 12 авг. 2018 г.

Dr. Eugene Parker watches the launch of the spacecraft that bears his name — NASA's Parker Solar Probe — early in the morning of Aug. 12, 2018. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first mission to the Sun and will travel closer to our star than any spacecraft before.
Credit: NASA/JHU Applied Physics Lab/Lee Hobson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lvk0tCFllYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lvk0tCFllY (0:55)

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-parker-solar-probe-on-historic-journey-to-touch-sun
ЦитироватьAug. 12, 2018
RELEASE 18-072

NASA, ULA Launch Parker Solar Probe on Historic Journey to Touch Sun

Hours before the rise of the very star it will study, NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched fr om Florida Sunday to begin its journey to the Sun, wh ere it will undertake a landmark mission. The spacecraft will transmit its first science observations in December, beginning a revolution in our understanding of the star that makes life on Earth possible.
Спойлер

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanity's first-ever mission into a part of the Sun's atmosphere called the corona. Here it will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth.
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Download high-resolution image.

Roughly the size of a small car, the spacecraft lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. At 5:33 a.m., the mission operations manager reported that the spacecraft was healthy and operating normally.

The mission's findings will help researchers improve their forecasts of space weather events, which have the potential to damage satellites and harm astronauts on orbit, disrupt radio communications and, at their most severe, overwhelm power grids.

"This mission truly marks humanity's first visit to a star that will have implications not just here on Earth, but how we better understand our universe," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We've accomplished something that decades ago, lived solely in the realm of science fiction."

During the first week of its journey, the spacecraft will deploy its high-gain antenna and magnetometer boom. It also will perform the first of a two-part deployment of its electric field antennas. Instrument testing will begin in early September and last approximately four weeks, after which Parker Solar Probe can begin science operations.

"Today's launch was the culmination of six decades of scientific study and millions of hours of effort," said project manager Andy Driesman, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. "Now, Parker Solar Probe is operating normally and on its way to begin a seven-year mission of extreme science."

Over the next two months, Parker Solar Probe will fly towards Venus, performing its first Venus gravity assist in early October – a maneuver a bit like a handbrake turn – that whips the spacecraft around the planet, using Venus's gravity to trim the spacecraft's orbit tighter around the Sun. This first flyby will place Parker Solar Probe in position in early November to fly as close as 15 million miles from the Sun – within the blazing solar atmosphere, known as the corona – closer than anything made by humanity has ever gone before.

Throughout its seven-year mission, Parker Solar Probe will make six more Venus flybys and 24 total passes by the Sun, journeying steadily closer to the Sun until it makes its closest approach at 3.8 million miles. At this point, the probe will be moving at roughly 430,000 miles per hour, setting the record for the fastest-moving object made by humanity.

Parker Solar Probe will set its sights on the corona to solve long-standing, foundational mysteries of our Sun. What is the secret of the scorching corona, which is more than 300 times hotter than the Sun's surface, thousands of miles below? What drives the supersonic solar wind – the constant stream of solar material that blows through the entire solar system? And finally, what accelerates solar energetic particles, which can reach speeds up to more than half the speed of light as they rocket away from the Sun?

Scientists have sought these answers for more than 60 years, but the investigation requires sending a probe right through the unrelenting heat of the corona. Today, this is finally possible with cutting-edge thermal engineering advances that can protect the mission on its daring journey.

"Exploring the Sun's corona with a spacecraft has been one of the hardest challenges for space exploration," said Nicola Fox, project scientist at APL. "We're finally going to be able to answer questions about the corona and solar wind raised by Gene Parker in 1958 – using a spacecraft that bears his name – and I can't wait to find out what discoveries we make. The science will be remarkable."

Parker Solar Probe carries four instrument suites designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles, and capture images of the solar wind. The University of California, Berkeley, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Princeton University in New Jersey lead these investigations.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living with a Star program is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed and built, and operates the spacecraft.


Renowned physicist Eugene Parker watches the launch of the spacecraft that bears his name – NASA's Parker Solar Probe – early in the morning on Aug. 12, 2018, from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Credits: NASA/Glenn Benson
Download high-resolution image.

The mission is named for Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the existence of the solar wind in 1958. It's the first NASA mission to be named for a living researcher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lvk0tCFllY
Physicist Eugene Parker watches the launch of the spacecraft that bears his name — NASA's Parker Solar Probe — early in the morning of Aug. 12, 2018.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL
Watch this video on YouTube.

A plaque dedicating the mission to Parker was attached to the spacecraft in May. It includes a quote from the renowned physicist – "Let's see what lies ahead." It also holds a memory card containing more than 1.1 million names submitted by the public to travel with the spacecraft to the Sun.
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Last Updated: Aug. 12, 2018
Editor: Karen Northon

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ЦитироватьBrady Kenniston‏ @TheFavoritist 9 мин. назад

My remote cameras survived! The covering was a bit melted but the lens and body are perfect. Thank you for the this incredible launch @NASA, @torybruno, & @ulalaunch! View the full launch gallery and support the work we do by subscribing to L2 today at https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2 




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https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/08/12/nasas-parker-solar-probe-begins-journey-to-the-sun/
ЦитироватьNASA's Parker Solar Probe Begins Journey to the Sun

Linda Herridge
Posted Aug 12, 2018 at 6:11 am


At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37, the Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, lifts off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is on its way for a rendezvous with the Sun. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, carrying the spacecraft, lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT, from Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, its engines blazing golden in the clear night sky during ascent.
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Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

"It was a very quiet launch countdown, it went off like clockwork," said Omar Baez, NASA Launch Director. "Parker Solar Probe has been one of our most challenging missions to date. I'm very proud of the team that worked to make this happen. We at NASA and the Launch Services Program are thrilled to be part of this mission."

About four minutes into flight, a series of key events occurred. The Delta IV port and starboard booster engines shut down and separated, the main core booster engine cut off and then separated from the second stage. After second stage engine ignition, the payload fairing was jettisoned. After second stage main engine cutoff and separation, the Parker Solar Probe separated from the third stage, provided by Northrup Grumman. Shortly afterward, mission managers confirmed that the spacecraft's solar arrays successfully deployed and the spacecraft was operating on its own power.



During its mission to "touch" the Sun, Parker Solar Probe will use gravity assists from Venus seven times over nearly seven years to gradually bring its orbit closer to the Sun. It will fly directly through the Sun's atmosphere, as close as 3.8 million miles from its surface, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it. The spacecraft will hurtle around the Sun at speeds up to 430,000 miles per hour. That's 15 times faster than a speeding bullet.

Parker Solar Probe will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun's corona. Facing brutal heat and radiation, the spacecraft will fly close enough to watch the solar wind speed up from subsonic to supersonic, and fly through the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles. Parker Solar Probe and its instruments will be protected from the Sun's heat by a 4.5-inch-thick, carbon-carbon composite heat shield. The shield's front surface will be able to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft up to 2,500 degree Fahrenheit. While the inside, or back surface of the shield will withstand temperatures up to 650 degrees Fahrenheit.

For more than 60 years, scientist have wondered how energy and heat move through the solar corona and what accelerates the solar wind as well as solar energetic particles. Now, with the help of cutting-edge thermal technology that can protect the mission on its dangerous journey, the spacecraft's four instrument suites will study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles, and image the solar wind.

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, a solar astrophysicist, 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.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star flight program is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA. APL designed and built the spacecraft and also will operate it.

Parker Solar Probe is the fourth mission for NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) this year. LSP is responsible for launch service acquisition, integration, analysis and launch management for each mission.

This concludes today's coverage of NASA's Parker Solar Probe countdown, launch and ascent into space for its mission to explore the Sun.
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tnt22

ЦитироватьTomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 9 мин. назад

You know that camera I set 150' away from the rocket? Well... What do you think?? @Teslarati @ulalaunch @NASA @NASAGoddard @MiopsTrigger

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поц

#448
ЦитироватьWalter Scriptunas II‏ @scriptunasphoto 3 ч.3 часа назад


Three @AerojetRdyne RS-68 engines propel the @ulalaunch Delta IV Heavy away from Launch Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. #ParkerSolarProbe #SolarProbe #DeltaIV



Штуцер

Ушла Дельта....
Поздравляю с началом миссии.
Форумчанам видимо пох.  :cry:
Но в виде обломков различных ракет
Останутся наши следы!

Stella

И фамилию свою Алексей вспомнил. Алексей Пох. Очень неприятно...

Reader

ЦитироватьШтуцер пишет:
Ушла Дельта....
Поздравляю с началом миссии.
Форумчанам видимо пох.  :cry:
Нет, пристально смотрим.

Stella

Конечно, наука - это прекрасно. Но поскольку многие не имеют здесь к ней отношения, все же интересно вернуться к теме семьи. Так как, Алексей, плохо жить одному, когда все тебе крутят у виска, да? Плохо. А почему? Потому что гадов никто не терпит. Даже не то, что не любит, их невозможно любить. Невозможно не только любить, но и ненавидеть равнодушных плоских бесцветных "граждан".

ааа

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." ©N.Armstrong
 "Let my people go!" ©L.Armstrong

tnt22

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5449741
ЦитироватьNASA запустило зонд для исследования Солнца

Космос | 12 августа, 10:37 дата обновления:12 августа, 10:45 UTC+3


© AP Photo/John Raoux

ВАШИНГТОН, 12 августа. /ТАСС/. Национальное управление США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (NASA) осуществило в воскресенье запуск автоматической станции Parker Solar Probe для изучения Солнца. Она отправилась в космическое путешествие с помощью тяжелой ракеты-носителя Delta IV, стартовавшей с космодрома на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида).

Американские ученые рассчитывают, что зонд, оснащенный научными приборами, предоставит им новые данные о процессах в солнечной атмосфере, имеющих важное значение для жизни на Земле. В конце своей миссии, запланированной на восемь лет, он приблизится к единственной звезде Солнечной системы на расстояние около 6 млн километров - столь тесного знакомства с ней не было еще ни у одного из космических аппаратов. Проект оценивается в $1,5 млрд.
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Особые условия

Станция размером с небольшой автомобиль построена по правительственному заказу специалистами Лаборатории прикладной физики Университета Джонса Гопкинса, расположенной в Лореле (штат Мэриленд). А ее запуск осуществлен по программе "Жизнь со звездой", которую разработал научный департамент NASA совместно с Центром космических полетов имени Годдарда в Гринбелте (штат Мэриленд).

На этом объекте, также входящим в структуру космического ведомства США, в течение двух месяцев аппарат проходил испытания в условиях перепада экстремальных температур. Сначала инженеры поместили его в вакуумную камеру высотой около 12 метров, чтобы проверить, как зонд и его "начинка" будут чувствовать себя при минус 180 градусов по Цельсию, а затем стали повышать температуру, наблюдая за поведением своего подопечного. Специалисты чередовали низкую и высокую температуру, имитируя условия полета станции в космическом пространстве.

Изучение Солнца

Планируется, что зонд выйдет на орбиту вокруг Солнца и уже в ноябре приблизится к нему на расстояние 6,4 млн километров. Это означает, что он будет находиться в пределах короны Солнца, то есть внешнего и самого жаркого слоя его атмосферы, где температура может превысить 500 тыс. градусов по Цельсию.

По замыслу ученых, в период по июнь 2025 года аппарат совершит 24 витка вокруг Солнца, разгоняясь до скорости 724 тыс. километров в час. На каждый такой виток у него будет уходить 88 дней.

Во время трех последних витков зонд пройдет на расстоянии 6,08 млн километров от Солнца. Это в семь раз ближе рекордной дистанции, которая отделяла солнечную поверхность от аппарата Helios 2 в ходе научной миссии в 1976 году. Средняя удаленность Земли от Солнца составляет 149,6 млн километров.


Новый зонд Parker полетит к Солнцу, чтобы лучше понять процессы, происходящие на границе короны и атмосферы нашей звезды. Инфографика ТАСС поможет представить, какое Солнце удивительное. 

На борту Parker Solar Probe находятся научные приборы, с помощью которых специалисты рассчитывают, в частности, осуществить измерения солнечной радиации. Наряду с этим зонд должен будет передать на Землю фотоснимки, которые станут первыми, сделанными в пределах солнечной короны. Оборудование станции защищено оболочкой из углепластика толщиной 11,43 сантиметров, позволяющей выдержать температуру почти до 1,4 тыс. градусов по Цельсию.

Координатор проекта Никола Фокс из Лаборатории прикладной физики Университета Джонса Гопкинса отметила, что замыслы отправки такой миссии к Солнцу удалось реализовать только после того, как появились новые композитные материалы, использованные в первую очередь при создании термостойкого щита. Кроме того, станция оснащена новыми панелями солнечных батарей. "Мы наконец прикоснемся к Солнцу", - сказала эксперт. По ее словам, зонд поможет ученым понять, "как работает Солнце".

В честь Юджина Паркера

NASA обещает, что миссия произведет чуть ли не революцию в представлении о процессах, протекающих на Солнце.

Претворение в жизнь намеченных планов позволит внести "фундаментальный вклад" в понимание причин "нагревания солнечной короны", а также возникновения солнечного ветра - потока ионизированных частиц из внешней оболочки Солнца, считают американские ученые. Они уверены, что данные, которые зонд передаст на Землю, помогут "ответить на критически важные вопросы гелиофизики" и будут использованы при подготовке пилотируемых полетов в дальний космос, в том числе для прогнозирования радиационной обстановки.

Зонд назван в честь американского астрофизика Юджина Паркера, которому минувшим летом исполнилось 90 лет. Несмотря на возраст, он до сих пор ведет научную деятельность в Университете Чикаго (штат Иллинойс). Паркер стал одним из первых в мире специалистов, занимающихся исследованиями солнечного ветра. С 1967 года он является членом Национальной академии наук США.
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ЦитироватьStephen Marr‏ @spacecoast_stve 9 ч. назад

To the stars aboard @ulalaunch #DeltaIVHeavy. And by "stars" I mean OUR star. Godspeed, #ParkerSolarProbe! Look closely in this photo; I caught a bright #PerseidMeteorShower meteor as well!


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ЦитироватьDelta IV Heavy Parker Solar Probe Launch Highlights

United Launch Alliance

Опубликовано: 12 авг. 2018 г.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission to the sun lifts off from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on Aug. 12, 2018. The mission is humanity's first journey to the sun. Check out Dr. Eugene N. Parker watching the rocket set of on its journey to space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d8raqfq6oQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d8raqfq6oQ (2:14)

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НОРАД зарегистрировал три объекта запуска

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/12/nasa-launches-parker-solar-probe-on-historic-mission/
ЦитироватьNASA launches Parker Solar Probe on historic mission
August 12, 2018 William Harwood


A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket takes off at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, with NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Running a day late, a United Launch Alliance heavy-lift Delta 4 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, boosting NASA's $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe into space on a daring seven-year mission to "touch the sun" with repeated trips through the star's blazing outer atmosphere.

Passing within 3.8 million miles of the sun's visible surface — well within the shimmering halo of the outer atmosphere, or corona — the spacecraft's heat shield will endure 2,500-degree heating while whipping past the star at a record 430,000 mph, fast enough to fly from New York to Tokyo in less than a minute.

The goal is to help scientists figure out what makes the corona hotter than the sun's visible surface and what accelerates charged particles to enormous velocities, producing the solar wind that streams away from the corona in all directions.

And the mystery is profound. The visible surface of the sun has a temperature of about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. But just above it, in the corona, the temperature shoots up to several million degrees.

Even though it will repeatedly fly through the corona, Parker will not experience such extreme temperatures because the ionized gas making up the outer atmosphere is so tenuous. But the probe's heat shield will still get hotter than lava while its instruments study the hellish environment in unprecedented detail.

Scientists have two theories about what heats up the corona. It could be due to interactions between electrically charged particles and the sun's powerful magnetic field, or it could be the result of countless "nanoflares" governed by another mechanism. Or maybe, both.
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Artist's concept of Parker Solar Probe. Credit: JHUAPL

"Until you actually go there and touch the sun, you really can't answer these questions," said Project Scientist Nicola Fox. "Why is the corona hotter than the surface of the sun? That defies the laws of nature. It's like water flowing uphill, it shouldn't happen.

"Why in this region does the solar atmosphere suddenly get so energized that it escapes from the (gravitational) hold of the sun and bathes all of the planets? We have not been able to answer these questions."

Learning more about the solar wind also will help scientists better predict the effects of solar storms and the impact of the solar wind on Earth's magnetic field, wreaking havoc with communications, power grids and navigation.

"This space weather has direct influence, not always positive, on our technology in space, our spacecraft, it disrupts our communications, it creates a hazardous environment for astronauts and in the most extreme cases can actually affect our power grids here on the Earth," said Alex Young, associate director of NASA's heliophysics program.

"So it's of fundamental importance for us to be able to predict this space weather much like we predict weather here on Earth."

To reach its target, the Delta 4 Heavy and a solid-propellant upper stage had to supply enough energy to counteract Earth's 18-mile-per-second orbital velocity around the sun, allowing the spacecraft to fall into the inner solar system.

Running 24 hours late because of a last-minute countdown glitch Saturday, the trek began at 3:31 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) Sunday when the 233-foot-tall Delta's three hydrogen-fueled Aerojet-Rocketdyne RS-68A main engines ignited with a rush of brilliant orange flame and quickly throttled up to 2.1 million pounds of thrust.

Looking on at launch was Eugene Parker, the University of Chicago astrophysicist who first theorized the existence of the solar wind in 1958. Now 91, Parker, the first living scientist to have a space probe named in his honor, flew to Cape Canaveral to witness his first rocket launch.

The Delta 4 Heavy did not disappoint.

"I really have to turn from biting my nails and getting it launched to thinking about all the interesting things, which I don't know yet, and which will be made clear, I assume, over the next five or six or seven years," Parker said in a NASA interview.

"It's a whole new phase, and it's going to be fascinating throughout. ... All I can say is wow, here we go. We're in for some learning over the next several years."


Eugene Parker, namesake for NASA's Parker Solar Probe, watches the spacecraft's launch early Sunday. Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

Trailing a plume of fiery exhaust visible for scores of miles around, the huge 1.6-million-pound rocket majestically climbed away from launch complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, arcing away on an easterly trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket smoothly accelerated as it consumed propellant and lost weight, powering out of the thick lower atmosphere in spectacular fashion. The two side boosters shut down and fell away as expected a bit less than four minutes after liftoff.

The central core booster continued firing for another minute and a half before it, too, shut down and fell away from the fast-moving second stage. A few seconds after that, the upper stage's single hydrogen-fueled Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10B-2 engine ignited to continue the climb to space.

Finally, after two firings of the second-stage engine, the Parker Solar Probe and its Northrup Grumman solid-fuel upper stage were released from the Delta 4. The upper stage then ignited for a short burn, supplying more than half of the probe's final velocity.

Forty-three minutes after launch, the spacecraft jettisoned the spent upper stage and began flying on its own.


An illustration of Parker Solar Probe's trajectory through the inner solar system following launch. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL

If all goes well, the Parker Solar Probe will swing by Venus in about six weeks for a gravitational encounter that will help the spacecraft slow down still more. Seven Venus flybys are planned over the seven-year mission to fine-tune the trajectory, setting up the close-in aim points.

The first pass by the sun, at a distance of about 15 million miles — three times closer than any previous spacecraft — is expected in November.

"So we're already in a region of very, very interesting coronal area," Fox said. "In fact, one of the key things about our early orbits is we're actually just at this sort of sweet spot ... over the same area of the sun for many, many days, allowing us to do some really incredible science on our very first flyby."
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