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

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tnt22

Цитировать Spacenews360‏ @SpaceNews360 11 мин. назад

Parker #SolarProbe was live on Facebook. #DeltaIV Heavy will be launch vehicle. The black unit on top a carbon heat shield to protect fr sun

tnt22

ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe Gets its Revolutionary Heat Shield: Time Lapse

NASA.gov Video

Опубликовано: 26 сент. 2017 г.

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=PLmSU6rJUtwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmSU6rJUtw (2:03)

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/parker-solar-probe-gets-its-revolutionary-heat-shield
Цитировать

Sept. 26, 2017

Parker Solar Probe Gets Its Revolutionary Heat Shield

On Sept. 25, 2017, media were invited to see NASA's Parker Solar Probe in its flight configuration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, where it is being built. The revolutionary heat shield that will protect the first spacecraft to fly directly into the Sun's atmosphere was installed for the first time on Sept. 21. This is the only time the spacecraft will have its thermal protection system -- which will reach temperatures of 2,500 degrees F while at the Sun -- attached until just before launch.
Спойлер
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmSU6rJUtw
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.
Credits: NASA

Parker Solar Probe is scheduled for launch on July 31, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The spacecraft will explore the Sun's outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of how stars work. The resulting data will improve forecasts of major space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.

Karen Fox

NASA's Goddard Space flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.


Last Updated: Sept. 26, 2017
Editor: Karl Hille
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Salo

"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/parker-solar-probe-gets-visit-from-namesake
ЦитироватьOct. 3, 2017

Parker Solar Probe Gets Visit Fr om Namesake

Eugene N. Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, today visited the spacecraft that bears his name: NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first NASA mission that has been named for a living researcher, and is humanity's first mission to the Sun.
Спойлер
Parker proposed the existence of the constant outflow of solar material fr om the sun, which is now called the solar wind, and theorized other fundamental stellar science processes. On Oct. 3, 2017, he viewed the spacecraft in a clean room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, where the probe was designed and is being built. He discussed the revolutionary heat shield and instruments with the Parker Solar Probe team and learned how the spacecraft will answer some of the crucial questions Parker identified about how stars work.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is scheduled for launch on July 31, 2018, fr om Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The spacecraft 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 improve forecasts of major eruptions on the sun and subsequent space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.


Eugene Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, visiting the spacecraft that bears his name, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, on Oct. 3, 2017. Engineers in the clean room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, wh ere the probe was designed and is being built point out the instruments that will collect data as the mission travels directly through the Sun's atmosphere.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL


Eugene Parker (center), professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, visits the spacecraft that bears his name: NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Thomas Zurbuchen (bottom right), the associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and Ralph Semmel (behind Parker), the director for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, wh ere the probe was designed and is being built, joined the tour.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL


Nicola Fox (bottom left), project scientist for NASA's Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, describes the mission to the scientist for whom it's named: Eugene Parker (middle). Eugene Parker first proposed the existence of the constant outflow of solar material from the sun — now called the solar wind — through which the spacecraft will travel. The red frame on the end of the spacecraft is a stand-in for the mission's thermal protection system, which will reach temperatures of 2,500 degrees F during its journey.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL


Eugene Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, visits the spacecraft that bears his name, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, wh ere the probe was designed and is being built. The spacecraft is humanity's first mission to a star — it will travel directly through the Sun's atmosphere.
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL

By Karen C. Fox
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated: Oct. 3, 2017
Editor: Rob Garner

che wi

Parker Solar Probe Successfully Completes Pre-Environmental Testing Review

ЦитироватьNASA's Parker Solar Probe, the first mission to fly into the Sun's corona, has successfully completed a review that approves the beginning of the spacecraft's environmental testing.

A review panel of engineers fr om NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where the spacecraft was designed and is being built, declared on September 29 that Parker Solar Probe has passed required performance tests and can move into environmental testing.

Спойлер
For Parker Solar Probe, this means the probe will be subjected to a series of challenging simulations of launch and space operations that will ensure the spacecraft is up to the difficult task of exploring the extreme environment of the Sun's atmosphere – the corona. The spacecraft will first be bolted to a vibration table at APL, which will simulate the violent physical forces of launch; Parker Solar Probe will be lifted skyward on a Delta IV-Heavy launch vehicle, the largest in the world currently in operation. The spacecraft has already completed mass properties testing, which is important for mating to the launch vehicle and for maneuvering and attitude control.

In early November, the spacecraft will travel a short distance to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, wh ere it will be subjected to acoustic, thermal cycling, and vacuum testing that will make sure the probe can withstand the sound generated at launch and the dramatic swings of hot and cold that it will be subjected to following launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in summer 2018.

"It's a testament to the hard work and diligence of the Parker Solar Probe team that we successfully completed our review, and we're excited to move forward into environmental testing," said Andy Driesman of APL, the Parker Solar Probe project manager. "We're looking forward to completing these tests, and then heading to Florida to begin the preparations for next year's launch."

NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft 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 improve forecasts of major eruptions on the sun and subsequent space weather events that 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 guided the discipline.
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tnt22

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=50
ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe Completes Launch Simulation Vibration Testing
Posted on 11/03/2017 08:59:03


Engineers and technicians at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab closely monitor vibration testing of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. The spacecraft is attached to a shaker table, which simulates the intense physical forces of launch and powered flight.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

High-Res Image


To ensure that NASA's Parker Solar Probe will be able to withstand the physical stresses of launch, engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory – where the probe was designed and is being integrated and tested – used a special device called a shaker table to simulate the forces of being hurled into space. The spacecraft successfully passed vibration testing, or "vibe," as the engineers call it, in late October.
Спойлер
"Our vibration testing uses our 40,000-pound force shaker to simulate many of the dynamic events that occur during launch and powered flight," said APL's Dave Persons, Parker Solar Probe lead structural engineer. "By safely simulating that process here in the clean room, we're able to fully monitor the spacecraft and make sure it's cleared for flight. During the test, we actively monitored over 300 channels of data."

During and after launch aboard a Delta IV Heavy—the world's largest launch vehicle—from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in summer 2018, Parker Solar Probe will undergo immense shaking and vibration. These Earth-bound tests are designed to make sure all of the systems and instruments on the spacecraft are up to those stresses.

"The predicted responses for major loading events – derived from studying and analyzing how payloads like spacecraft that are attached to the launch vehicle behave – establishes just how much force and vibration that Parker Solar Probe will be subjected to," said Shelly Conkey of APL, Parker Solar Probe structural analyst. "We load that information into our simulation, and the shaker table subjects the probe to that force and vibration. This testing lets us know that the probe is adequately designed to survive launch, and is ready to move on to further environmental testing, which we'll continue at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center."

The Parker Solar Probe spacecraft 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 improve forecasts of major eruptions on the sun and subsequent space weather events that 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 guided the discipline.
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instml

Wrapped and Ready for Transport
Posted on 11/03/2017 12:29:18
NASA's Parker Solar Probe – shown in protective bagging to prevent contamination, and mounted on a rotating pedestal – is getting ready for its trip from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab to Goddard Space Flight Center to continue environmental testing. Loaded vertically into a special shipping container, the spacecraft is being rotated into a horizontal position for transport.

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/admin/Press-Releases/images/articles/bagandcont.jpeg

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=52
Go MSL!

tnt22

Цитировать Parker Solar Probe‏ @ParkerSunProbe 7 нояб.

Parker Solar Probe has arrived at NASA Goddard to continue environmental testing #TouchtheSun
Спойлер

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tnt22

ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe Moves to Goddard | Time Lapse

NASA.gov Video

Опубликовано: 13 нояб. 2017 г.

Time-lapse video shows the packing up and moving of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1S98c1kQTghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1S98c1kQTg (4:33)

ZOOR

А что у него внутре в розовой клизме? Тут хорошо ее видно
Я зуб даю за то что в первом пуске Ангары с Восточного полетит ГВМ Пингвина. © Старый
Если болит сердце за народные деньги - можно пойти в депутаты. © Neru - Старому

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2017/11/16/sound-effects-parker-solar-probe-passes-acoustic-testing/
ЦитироватьRob Garner
Posted on November 16, 2017

Sound Effects: Parker Solar Probe Passes Acoustic Testing

When NASA's Parker Solar Probe lifts off on top of a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle in summer 2018, it will undergo both intense vibration fr om the physical forces of the rocket engines, as well as acoustic effects from the sound of the engines and the rocket going through the atmosphere.

Verifying the spacecraft and its systems are ready for the rigors of launch is one of the most important parts of testing. On Nov. 3, Parker Solar Probe passed vibration testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland, wh ere it was designed and built. On Nov. 14, the spacecraft successfully completed acoustic testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is now being prepared for further environmental tests.
Спойлер
Goddard's Acoustic Test Chamber is a 42-foot-tall chamber that uses 6-foot-tall speakers –which can create sound levels of up to 150 decibels – to simulate the extreme noise levels of a rocket launch. While vibration testing focuses on how much the spacecraft will shake during launch, acoustic testing subjects the probe to intense sound forces, like those generated by the Delta IV Heavy. Each type of force affects the spacecraft differently, so both tests are necessary.

"We're launching on a very large and powerful vehicle, so we need to make sure that the spacecraft, its systems, and its instruments are going survive the launch environment," said Shelly Conkey, a Parker Solar Probe structural analyst at APL, who led the acoustic test. "We use our data models to predict the forces that will be impacting Parker Solar Probe, and by comprehensive monitoring of the spacecraft during testing, we can ensure that we're ready to move on to thermal vacuum testing."

Parker Solar Probe spacecraft 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.


Members of the integration and testing team roll Parker Solar Probe into the Acoustic Test Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman


A member of the integration and testing prepares Parker Solar Probe for environmental testing inside the Acoustic Test Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman


Members of the integration and testing team prepare Parker Solar Probe for environmental testing in the Acoustic Test Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman


Parker Solar Probe sits in the Acoustic Test Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
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tnt22

ЦитироватьLasers Fired At NASA's Parker Solar Probe

NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 6 дек. 2017 г.

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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRjerxUYJ4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRjerxUYJ4 (0:55)

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2017/12/06/purple-gaze-parker-solar-probes-solar-arrays-pass-laser-illumination-testing/
ЦитироватьSarah Frazier
Posted on December 6, 2017

Purple Gaze: Parker Solar Probe's Solar Arrays Pass Laser Illumination Testing

NASA's Parker Solar Probe passed laser illumination testing the week of Nov. 27, 2017. During this test, each segment of the spacecraft's solar panels was illuminated with lasers to check that they were still electrically connected after the vigorous vibration and acoustic testing completed earlier this fall.
Спойлер
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRjerxUYJ4
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. Parker Solar Probe's integration and testing team must check over the spacecraft and systems to make sure everything is still in optimal working condition after these rigorous tests – including a check of the solar arrays, which will provide electrical power to the spacecraft. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng
Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

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 have simulated the noise and shaking the spacecraft will experience during its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled for July 31, 2018.

Parker Solar Probe's integration and 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.

"This illumination testing verifies that each 'string' of solar cells on the array remains electrically connected to the spacecraft after vibration and acoustic testing," said solar array lead engineer Ed Gaddy of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland. APL is building and will operate the spacecraft.

To make sure that the 44 strings — a series of connected solar cells — on each panel are still well-connected after environmental tests, each string was illuminated individually to ensure that they would still create electricity and transfer it to the spacecraft. Lasers are ideal for this kind of testing, because their narrow beam allows the team to illuminate just one string at a time. The strikingly colored lasers were selected because they were readily available and because the solar cells operate efficiently at that color. But by themselves, these visible lasers are insufficient to power the solar cells, so the team also used infrared lasers for this test. Infrared light is not visible to our eyes and wasn't captured in these images.
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https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2017/12/15/parker-solar-probes-heat-shield-enters-thermal-vacuum-testing/
ЦитироватьSarah Frazier
Posted on December 15, 2017

Parker Solar Probe's Heat Shield Enters Thermal Vacuum Testing


Parker Solar Probe's Thermal Protection System is lowered into the Thermal Vacuum Chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in preparation for environmental testing on Dec. 7, 2017. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Download images and video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

To protect NASA's Parker Solar Probe from the intense heat of the Sun's atmosphere, scientists and engineers developed a revolutionary Thermal Protection System. This heat shield, made of carbon-carbon composite material, will experience temperatures of almost 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit as the spacecraft hurtles through the solar atmosphere, while keeping the instruments on the spacecraft at approximately room temperature.
Спойлер

Parker Solar Probe's Thermal Protection System, or heat shield, is carefully moved to a shipping container for transport from Johns Hopkins APL to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for further environmental testing on Dec. 6, 2017. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

The heat shield recently moved from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland, to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt to undergo testing in NASA Goddard's large Thermal Vacuum Chamber. The Thermal Vacuum Chamber will simulate the harsh conditions that the heat shield must endure during the mission: This includes the airless vacuum of space along with huge temperature fluctuations between hot and cold as the spacecraft swings past the Sun and back out into space. The Thermal Protection System's ability to withstand extreme temperatures has already been proven through testing at other facilities, as the Thermal Vacuum Chamber at NASA Goddard cannot simulate the very high temperatures of the Sun.
[свернуть]
By Geoff Brown
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/01/17/parker-solar-probe-enters-thermal-vacuum-chamber/
ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe Enters Thermal Vacuum Chamber

Sarah Frazier
Posted on January 17, 2018


On Wednesday, Jan. 17, NASA's Parker Solar Probe was lowered into the 40-foot-tall thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft will remain in the chamber for about seven weeks, coming out in mid-March for final tests and packing before heading to Florida. Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to launch fr om NASA's Kennedy Space Center on July 31, 2018, on a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.
Спойлер

Parker Solar Probe is slowly lifted and carried to the top of the thermal vacuum chamber, which will simulate the airless environment of space, in addition to conducting intense hot and cold temperature testing.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Ed Whitman


The thermal vacuum chamber simulates the harsh conditions that Parker Solar Probe will experience on its journey through space, including near-vacuum conditions and severe hot and cold temperatures.

"This is the final major environmental test for the spacecraft, and we're looking forward to this milestone," said Annette Dolbow, Parker Solar Probe's integration and test lead from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. "The results we'll get from subjecting the probe to the extreme temperatures and conditions in the chamber, while operating our systems, will let us know that we're ready for the next phase of our mission – and for launch."


NASA's Parker Solar Probe descends into the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The spacecraft will be inside the chamber for about seven weeks.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Ed Whitman


During thermal balance testing, the spacecraft will be cooled to -292 degrees Fahrenheit. Engineers will then gradually raise the spacecraft's temperature to test the thermal control of the probe at various set points and with various power configurations.

Next, thermal cycling testing will transition the spacecraft from cold to hot and back again several times, simulating the conditions it will experience many times during its mission to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe team will also test operation of the spacecraft's hardware at both hot and cold plateaus, as well as perform a mission simulation.


Members of the NASA Parker Solar Probe team wheel the spacecraft – bagged to protect it from contamination – from its cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to the thermal vacuum chamber, wh ere it will undergo approximately seven weeks of testing at extreme temperatures that will simulate the space environment.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Ed Whitman



Engineers and technicians from the Parker Solar Probe team monitor the descent of the spacecraft into the thermal vacuum chamber.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Ed Whitman



Parker Solar Probe team members begin the process of reattaching the spacecraft to power and other systems in preparation for testing the operation of the probe in intense heat and cold while in an airless environment.
Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/Ed Whitman


Download these images in HD formats from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. 

By Sarah Frazier

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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tnt22

ЦитироватьSolar 60: Parker Solar Probe Enters Thermal Vacuum Chamber

JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

Опубликовано: 30 янв. 2018 г.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Deputy Lead Mechanical Engineer Felipe Ruiz and Lead Thermal Engineer Jack Ercol - both from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab - take us through the process of preparing the spacecraft for space environment testing. The Thermal Protection System (TPS) simulator placed on the spacecraft is to provide accurate simulation conditions during testing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dCsLr9wvUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dCsLr9wvU (1:32)

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/01/30/parker-solar-probe-begins-space-environment-testing/
ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe Begins Space Environment Testing

Sarah Frazier
Posted Jan 30, 2018 at 3:04 pm


Parker Solar Probe team members fr om the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory work to attach testing and monitoring equipment and sensors to the spacecraft inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Space environment testing duplicates the airless environment of space and simulates the cold and hot temperature cycles the spacecraft will endure during its seven-year exploration of the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

On Saturday, Jan. 27, NASA's Parker Solar Probe began space environment testing, starting with the air being pumped out of the 40-foot-tall thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland where the spacecraft is currently housed. The chamber – officially called the Space Environment Simulator – creates a nearly identical replication of the conditions the spacecraft will face during its mission to the Sun.
Спойлер
After the air was slowly removed from the chamber over the course of five hours, cooling tubes behind the chamber walls were chilled to -320 degrees Fahrenheit (-196 Celsius).


Members of the Parker Solar Probe team prepare the spacecraft for space environment testing in the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The thermal vacuum chamber duplicates the airless environment of space and simulates the cold and hot temperature cycles the spacecraft will endure during its seven-year exploration of the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Engineers will cycle the chamber's temperatures from hot to cold to ensure Parker Solar Probe will be prepared for operations around the Sun. During this cycling, the spacecraft's systems will undergo testing that mimics critical events that occur during its planned seven-year mission in space. The tests are designed to make sure all the systems and components of Parker Solar Probe are operating as designed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dCsLr9wvU
(Video 1:32)
Download this video in HD formats from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This space environment testing will continue for about seven weeks. Parker Solar Probe will emerge from the vacuum chamber in mid-March for final tests before setting off for Florida, wh ere it will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on July 31, 2018.

Download photos in HD formats from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

By Justyna Surowiec

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory


To prepare NASA's Parker Solar Probe for space environment testing, the team must make hundreds of connections to allow the engineers and technicians to monitor the safety and performance of the spacecraft's systems. Four hundred thermocouples mounted on the spacecraft let the team track the health of the probe as it undergoes temperature cycling in the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman


NASA's Parker Solar Probe sits inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. On Jan. 27, the spacecraft began space environment testing inside the chamber, which simulates the hot and cold airless environments that the mission will experience during its voyage to the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman


NASA's Parker Solar Probe sits inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center just before the main hatch is closed to begin space environment testing. The thermal vacuum chamber duplicates the airless environment of space and simulates the cold and hot temperature cycles the spacecraft will endure during its seven-year exploration of the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
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