The Parker Solar Probe spacecraft launched in August 2018 to study the sun through direct measurements of its corona. It will make multiple close approaches to within 4 million miles of the sun's surface, closer than any other spacecraft, to provide new data on solar activity and help understand processes that drive solar wind. The spacecraft carries instruments to measure the solar wind, magnetic and electric fields, and take images of the corona to analyze properties of the sun's atmosphere.

1. Parker Solar Probe By: Malcolm Aranda

2. • The Parker Solar Probe (PSP)
spacecraft launched August 12,
2018 on a Delta IV Heavy rocket
from Cape Canaveral.
• Study the sun through direct
measurements in the corona
• The corona is the Sun’s outer
atmosphere
• Closest any spacecraft has been
to the Sun
Parker Solar Probe Mission

3. Studying The
Sun Is Important
• The Sun provides light and
energy for all living things
on earth
• Solar activity interacts with
Earth’s magnetic fields
• Solar weather has affect on
electronics in space and on
earth
• Observation from systems in
space provide more
accurate data

4. Parker Solar Probe Spacecraft
• Built by Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
• Most noticeable feature is the
solar shield
• Controlled by autonomous
operation
• Reaction wheels adjust the
orientation

5. Solar Probe
Instruments
• Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons
Investigation (SWEAP), Wide-field Imager for Solar
Probe(WISPR), Electromagnetic Fields Investigation
(FIELDS), and the Integrated Science Investigation
of the Sun – Energetic Particle Instruments (ISIS-
EPI)

6. Solar Probe Instruments (Cont.)
• The FIELDS instrument suite on
PSP will make direct
measurements of electric and
magnetic fields
• SWEAP is the set of instruments
on the spacecraft that will
directly measure the properties
of the plasma in the solar
atmosphere

7. Solar Probe Instruments (Cont.)
• WISPR, a telescope that will
make 3-D images of the sun's
corona, or atmosphere
• ISIS-EPI consists of two
instruments that will monitor
electrons, protons and ions that
are accelerated to high energies
in the sun's atmosphere.

8. Launch Vehicle
• United Launch Alliance Delta 4-
Heavy rocket accompanied by a
Star 48 upper stage motor
• Picked due to the high velocity
needed to counteract Earth’s
momentum

9. Spacecraft
Route
• Due to the impossibility
of a direct flight to the
Sun a planetary gravity
assist was needed
• Mission guidelines ruled
out an assist from Jupiter
• Using a gravity assist with
Venus allows for 24
separate exposure events

10. Current Status
• On Nov. 16, Parker Solar
Probe reported that all
systems are operating
well in the first detailed
performance and health
update sent to Earth by
the spacecraft since its
first solar encounter.

11. References