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

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ЦитироватьULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 16 мин. назад

The #DeltaIV with Parker #SolarProbe has 3 boosters powered by @AerojetRdyne RS-68A engines, the fully cryogenic Delta Cryogenic Second Stage powered by @AerojetRdyne's RL10B-2 engines and the @northropgrumman third stage with its STAR 48BV motor.


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ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman 54 мин. назад

#NorthropGrumman is proud to support @ulalaunch and the #SolarProbe mission by providing several composite structures on the #DeltaIV Heavy rocket as well as this mission's critical third stage. | @NASA photos


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ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 29 мин. назад

There's that wild Third Stage! I really hope they show the velocity readout during that 1.5 minute burn.


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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-is-about-to-lift-off
ЦитироватьAug. 9, 2018

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is About to Lift Off

At 3:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 11, while most of the U.S. is asleep, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be abuzz with excitement. At that moment, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the agency's historic mission to touch the Sun, will have its first opportunity to lift off.

Launching fr om Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Parker Solar Probe will make its journey all the way to the Sun's atmosphere, or corona — closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe inside one half of its 62.7-foot-tall fairing.
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
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"Eight long years of hard work by countless engineers and scientists is finally paying off," said Adam Szabo, the mission scientist for Parker Solar Probe at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Nestled atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy — one of the world's most powerful rockets — with a third stage added, Parker Solar Probe will blast off toward the Sun with a whopping 55 times more energy than is required to reach Mars. About the size of a small car, it weighs a mere 1,400 pounds.

"That's a relatively light spacecraft," said Andy Driesman, project manager for the mission at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. "And it needs to be, because it takes an immense amount of energy to get to our final orbit around the Sun."

Zooming through space in a highly elliptical orbit, Parker Solar Probe will reach speeds up to 430,000 miles per hour — fast enough to get fr om Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in a second — setting the record for the fastest spacecraft in history. During its nominal mission lifetime of just under 7 years, Parker Solar Probe will complete 24 orbits of the Sun — reaching within 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface at closest approach.


Parker uses a highly elliptical orbit with Venus gravity assists to get closer to the Sun.
Credits: NASA/JPL/WISPR Team
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"We'll be going where no spacecraft has dared go before — within the corona of a star," said project scientist Nicky Fox of APL. "With each orbit, we'll be seeing new regions of the Sun's atmosphere and learning things about stellar mechanics that we've wanted to explore for decades."

But getting so close to the Sun requires slowing down — for which Parker will use the gravity of our neighbor planet, Venus.

"Parker Solar Probe uses Venus to adjust its course and slow down in order to put the spacecraft on the best trajectory," said Driesman. "We will fly by Venus seven times throughout the mission. Each time we fly by we get closer and closer to the Sun."

In an orbit this close to the Sun, the real challenge is to keep the spacecraft fr om burning up.

"NASA was planning to send a mission to the solar corona for decades, however,
we did not have the technology that could protect a spacecraft and its instruments from the heat," said Szabo. "Recent advances in materials science gave us the material to fashion a heat shield in front of the spacecraft not only to withstand the extreme heat of the Sun, but to remain cool on the backside."

The heat shield is made of a 4.5-inch thick carbon composite foam material between two carbon fiber face sheets. While the Sun-facing side simmers at 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, behind the shield the spacecraft will be a cozy 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Parker Solar Probe is also the first NASA mission to be named after a living individual: Dr. Eugene Parker, famed solar physicist who in 1958 first predicted the existence of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles and magnetic fields that flow continuously from the Sun, bathing Earth. The spacecraft's path through the corona allows it to observe the acceleration of the very solar wind that Parker predicted, right as it makes a critical transition from slower than the speed of sound to faster than it.

The corona is also wh ere the solar material is heated to millions of degrees and wh ere the most extreme events on the Sun occur, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections — accelerating particles to a fraction of the speed of light. These explosions create space weather events that can pummel Earth with high energy particles, endangering astronauts, interfering with GPS and communications satellites and, at their worst, disrupting our power grid.

This will be the first time that solar scientists can see the objects of their study up close and personal.

"All of our data on the corona so far have been remote," said Nicholeen Viall, solar physicist at Goddard. "We have been very creative to get as much as we can out of our data, but there is nothing like actually sticking a probe in the corona to see what's happening there."

And scientists aren't the only ones along for the adventure — the spacecraft holds a microchip carrying the names of more than 1.1 million participants who signed up to send their name to the Sun. Sometime between Aug. 11 and 23, the close of the launch period, these names and 1,400 pounds of solar protection and science equipment will begin their journey to the center of our solar system.

Three months later, Parker Solar Probe will reach its first close approach of the Sun in November 2018, and will send the data back in December.


An illustration of Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun.
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
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"For scientists like myself, the reward of the long, hard work will be the unique set of measurements returned by Parker," said Szabo. "The solar corona is one of the last places in the solar system wh ere no spacecraft has visited before. It gives me the sense of excitement of an explorer."

Stay tuned — Parker is about to take flight.

By Miles Hatfield
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated: Aug. 9, 2018
Editor: Rob Garner

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ЦитироватьNASA_LSP‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_LSP 1 мин. назад

Dr. Eugene Parker, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen and Dr. Nicky Fox participates in a special Q&A session with members of media and #NASASocial participants. Learn more about Dr. Parker's legacy at: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/eugene-newman-parker ...




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ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe: Building the Thermal Protection System

JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

Опубликовано: 9 авг. 2018 г.

The Thermal Protection System, or TPS, is an essential technology that enables Parker Solar Probe to get so close to the Sun. The TPS is a composite structure made of top and bottom carbon fiber facesheets with 4.5 inches of carbon-carbon foam between them. Together, they form the 8-foot diameter heat shield on the top of the spacecraft.

The outer Sun facing facesheet is sprayed with a special bright white plasma optical coating.

The TPS is light - only 160 pounds – yet very effective at protecting the spacecraft and scientific instruments from the Sun.

During closes approach the Sun-facing side of the TPS will reach temperatures of about 2,500°F, while the spacecraft and majority of the instruments will only experience temperatures around 85°F.
(3:44)

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Запись брифинга группой Space Videos
ЦитироватьBriefing ahead of NASA's Parker Solar Probe Launch on Delta IV Heavy

Space Videos

Опубликовано: 9 авг. 2018 г.

Mission managers discuss the upcoming launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe on a Delta IV Heavy rocket. Liftoff is set for 03:33 UTC, August 11th 2018.
(54:38)

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ЦитироватьULA's SLC-37 Behind the Scenes: Delta IV Heavy Rocket for Parker Solar Probe

K Space Academy

Опубликовано: 9 авг. 2018 г.

Das and the crew visit the United Launch Alliance's Space Launch Complex 37 at Kennedy Space Center, home to the massive Delta IV Heavy rocket which will launch NASA's Parker Solar Probe.

Escorted by special guest John Gadarowski (Project Manager for ULA) ... they walk under engines, get up close with flame diverters, and ride the elevator up to payload level for an in-depth look at the rocket and supporting Mobile Service Tower.
(1:19:39)

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/09/photos-parker-solar-probe-closed-up-inside-delta-4-fairing-for-launch/
ЦитироватьPhotos: Parker Solar Probe closed up inside Delta 4 fairing for launch
August 9, 2018 | Stephen Clark

Ready for a journey into the sun's enigmatic, scorching corona, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been encapsulated inside the nose cone of its Delta 4-Heavy rocket for liftoff Saturday.

These photos show the solar-powered probe's enclosure inside the Delta 4 fairing at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, last month. Ground crews transported the spacecraft, inside the fairing, to Cape Canaveral's Complex 37B launch pad July 31 for hoisting atop the already-assembled United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket.

Parker Solar Probe is set for launch at 3:33 a.m. EDT (0733 GMT) Saturday, kicking off a more than seven-year voyage that will take the spacecraft closer to the sun than any previous mission. Built at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the $1.5 billion NASA-funded mission will get an extra boost fr om a solid-fueled Star 48BV third stage motor, giving the spacecraft enough speed to escape Earth's gravity.

The Star 48 upper stage motor is seen in these images attached to the bottom of Parker Solar Probe, as the combined stack was surrounded by the Delta 4's two-section payload shroud.

The probe will head for a flyby with Venus on Oct. 2, using the planet's gravity to slingshot closer to the sun for its first close approach to our star in November.

Scientists want to learn how the solar wind is generated in the sun's corona, and Parker Solar Probe carries sensors and a camera to investigate the unexplored region, wh ere temperatures soar to millions of degrees.

All photos: NASA/KSC.
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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/09/parker-solar-probe-cleared-for-saturday-launch-to-touch-the-sun/
ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe cleared for Saturday launch to 'touch the sun'
August 9, 2018 |William Harwood

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION


Artist's concept of Parker Solar Probe. Credit: JHUAPL

NASA managers Thursday cleared the $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe for launch early Saturday on a daring mission to "touch the sun," repeatedly flying through its outer atmosphere to find out why the blazing corona is millions of degrees hotter than our star's visible surface.

The spacecraft's instruments also will map the sun's powerful magnetic field, the torrent of electrically charged particles that are constantly blasted away into space in explosive outbursts and the mechanism that accelerates those particles to extreme velocities.

The goal is to understand and be better able to predict the behavior of the solar wind that triggers auroral displays on Earth and occasionally wreaks havoc with power grids and satellites.
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"This space weather has a 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 Science Division.

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

As for the sun's corona, the fiery halo of shimmering light seen during a total solar eclipse, scientists hope the Parker Solar Probe can answer one of their most fundamental questions.


File photo of a solar eclipse, with the sun's corona visible. Credit: NASA

"We're used to the idea that if I am standing next to a camp fire and I walk away fr om it, it gets cooler," Young said. "But this is not what happens on the sun. As we go fr om the surface of the sun, which is 10,000 degrees, and move up into the corona, we find ourselves quickly at millions of degrees.

"So this is a fundamental question that drives not only how this star works, our sun, but actually all the stars in the universe. And so, these are sort of the three fundamental questions we want to address: the speed of the solar wind, this eruptive phenomena, solar storms, and how is the corona heated?"

Nicola Fox, the Parker project scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, described the solar probe as "the coolest hottest mission under the sun."

"Until you actually go there and touch the sun, you really can't answer these questions," she said. "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 hold of the sun and bathes all of the planets? We have not been able to answer these questions."

But the Parker Solar Probe was built to do just that.

Perched atop a heavy-lift United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket, Parker will blast off from pad 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3:33 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) Saturday. Forecasters are predicting a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather.

The powerful Delta 4 Heavy, ULA's most powerful launcher, will be making only its 10th flight since 2004. It is equipped with a Northrup Grumman solid-fuel upper stage that will act to drop the Parker probe out of Earth's 18-mile-per-second orbit around the sun, allowing it to fall inward for the first of seven gravity assist flybys of Venus over a planned seven-year mission.

"It is a beast of a rocket," Fox said of the Delta 4. "We need to go so fast because we have to lose the influence of the Earth."

The Venus flybys will help shape Parker's trajectory, eventually putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with a low point of just 3.8 million miles from the sun's visible surface and a high point around the orbit of Venus.

To put that in perspective, if the Earth and sun were at opposite ends of a football field, the Parker probe would be on the four-yard line nearest the sun during close approach.


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

Along with being the first spacecraft to fly that close to a star, Parker also will be the fastest, streaking through the outer corona at some 430,000 mph — fast enough to fly from Washington, DC, to Tokyo in less than one minute.

Those extremes will not be seen until the later orbits, but Parker will be collecting data during all of its trips around the sun, starting with its first close encounter three months after launch.

"In our very first flyby (of the sun), we get a little more than 15 million miles away from the sun's surface," Fox said. "We're still three times closer than anything has been before. ... The spacecraft is staying over the same area of the sun for many, many days, allowing us to do some really incredible science on our very first flyby."

While the corona blazes at millions of degrees, it is a tenuous environment and the heat transferred to the spacecraft will be much less. Even so, Parker's four-inch-thick 160-pound carbon composite heat shield will be subjected to some 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit during the closest approaches, hotter than flowing lava.

But on the back side of that heat shield, wh ere Parker's four instruments, its flight computer and other critical systems are located, temperatures will be maintained at a relatively cool 85 degrees. Its water-cooled solar panels will be retracted behind the heat shield during close approach with just the tips exposed to the blazing light — and heat — of the sun.

"You can put your hand inside your oven and you won't get burned unless you actually touch a surface," said Fox. "And it really is the same. The corona is a very tenuous plasma.

"If you think about the amount of particles that actually are striking the heat shield and depositing that heat in, the whole thing gets heated up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, I would just say don't touch the oven surface, don't touch the three-million-degree plasma!"

Appropriately enough, the spacecraft is named for Eugene Parker, the University of Chicago scientist who first theorized the existence of the solar wind in 1958. Now 91, Parker, the first living scientist to have a spacecraft named in his honor, flew to the Florida Space Coast to witness his first rocket launch.

"Since this is a mission into unknown territory, we have to be prepared for some surprises, things we never thought of or things we thought of but were not correct," he said in a recent briefing. "The heating, particularly during stormy times when the sun has a lot of flares and activity, that's wh ere one really doesn't know what we're going to find."

The Parker Solar Probe is equipped with four instruments. The FIELDS instrument will map out the sun's electric and magnetic fields, measuring waves and turbulence in the star's atmosphere to help scientists understand how magnetic field lines can explosively snap apart and re-align.

The Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe, or WISPR, will photograph the large scale structure of the corona before the spacecraft flies into it, studying coronal mass ejections, jets and other phenomena.

The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation, or SWEAP, will use two instruments to characterize the particles making up the solar wind, measuring their velocity, density and temperature.

Finally, the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun, or ISOIS, relies on two instruments to measure particle energies, shedding light on their origin and how they were accelerated.

"The science is ground breaking, it's compelling, it's confused scientists and puzzled us for decades and decades and decades," Fox said. "We're now going to fly this mission."
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#212
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/10/delta-4-heavy-parker-solar-probe-mission-status-center/
ЦитироватьLive coverage: Heavy-lifting Delta 4 rocket set for launch with Parker Solar Probe
August 10, 2018 | Stephen Clark

08/10/2018 12:32 Stephen Clark

Launch crews are syncing their schedules for Saturday's early morning blastoff of NASA's Parker Solar Probe fr om Cape Canaveral.

Liftoff is set for the opening of a 65-minute window at 3:33 a.m. EDT (0733 GMT) aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket.
Спойлер
Parker Solar Probe will fly closer to the sun than any mission before, reaching a point as close as 3.8 million miles from our star in 2024 after a series of gravitational assist flybys of Venus.

With the help of a Northrop Grumman Star 48 upper stage motor, Parker Solar Probe will depart Earth with blistering speed to reach Venus for the mission's first planetary encounter Oct. 2. The spacecraft, built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, will reach its first perihelion at a distance of roughly 15 million miles from the sun Nov. 5.

The will break a record set by the U.S.-German Helios 2 mission, which passed as close as 27 million miles (43.4 million kilometers) from the sun in April 1976.

Named for Eugene Parker, who correctly predicted the existence of the solar wind in 1958, Parker Solar Probe will fly through the corona, a super-heated envelope of plasma surrounding the sun wh ere temperatures soar to millions of degrees. The temperature at the surface of the sun is hundreds of times cooler, but still a blistering 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (6,000 degrees Celsius).

The corona is thought by scientists to be the origin of the solar wind, a supersonic stream of charged particles flowing away from the sun in every direction, influencing the entire solar system and driving space weather.

"How is the solar wind accelerated up to millions of mph very quickly in the solar corona? The work that Dr. Parker has laid out is the foundational work for understanding this process, and this is one of the primary goals of the Parker Solar Probe," said Alex Young, associate director for science in the heliophysics division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The launch Saturday is timed to put Parker Solar Probe on the correct course to kick off its planned seven-year mission. The spacecraft has until Aug. 23 to leave Earth, or else wait for the next interplanetary launch period in May 2019.
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The joint NASA/ULA launch team planned to adjust their schedules late this week for the Delta 4 countdown, which is scheduled to begin at 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 GMT).

Final launch preps for the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft are scheduled to get underway Friday morning, and ULA's ground crew at Cape Canaveral's Complex 37B launch pad will ready the facility's mobile gantry for retraction into position for liftoff.

The 330-foot-tall Mobile Service Tower should be rolled away from the Delta 4-Heavy rocket on rail tracks around 6:18 p.m. EDT (2218 GMT) to reveal the launcher, which is comprised of three hydrogen-fueled first stage cores, a cryogenic second stage, and the solid-fueled Star 48 third stage motor.

The Delta 4-Heavy rocket stands approximately 233 feet tall, and Saturday's mission will mark the 10th flight of ULA's most powerful launcher.

ULA workers will clear the launch pad later Friday evening ahead of the start of fueling of the Delta 4-Heavy with around 465,000 gallons of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

The launch team will arrive at their consoles at the Delta Operations Center shortly before 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT). Controllers will oversee loading of cryogenic propellants into the Delta 4-Heavy beginning around 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 GMT).
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Forecasters from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron predict a 70 percent probability of favorable weather. Here's the forecast summary:
ЦитироватьThe Bermuda high pressure ridge is south, and the low-level flow over the Space Coast is from the southwest. The southwest flow will converge with the sea breeze this afternoon and cause mid-afternoon thunderstorms. This pattern will continue for the next several days. Friday, afternoon thunderstorms will be in the area near the time of the Mobile Service Tower roll operations, but weather will improve shortly thereafter. Thunderstorms will likely continue over the Gulf Stream ~30nm offshore during the overnight hours, and northeast upper-level winds could cause anvils from offshore thunderstorms to migrate toward the Space Coast. The primary concerns for launch are cumulus clouds and anvil clouds.
At launch time, the forecast calls for offshore thunderstorms, scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, broken clouds at 25,000 feet, winds from the west at 8 knots, and a temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit.
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ЦитироватьDelta IV Heavy Parker Solar Probe Mission Profile
United Launch Alliance

Опубликовано: 10 авг. 2018 г.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission to the sun. The Parker Solar Probe mission will be the 10th launch of the Delta IV Heavy configuration rocket, which is the only rocket currently flying with the capability of launching this mission.
(3:05)

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/08/10/parker-solar-probe-nasa-edge-rollback-webcast-today/
ЦитироватьParker Solar Probe NASA EDGE Rollback Webcast Today

Linda Herridge
Posted Aug 10, 2018 at 12:27 pm


Encapsulated in its payload fairing, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been mated to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. The Parker Solar Probe is being prepared for a mission to 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/Leif Heimbold

Watch the live webcast with NASA EDGE during the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Mobile Service Tower rollback at Space Launch Complex-37. The live show begins at 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed on NASA TV and social media at: NASA TV: www.nasa.gov/live 
NASA EDGE Facebook: www.facebook.com/nasaedgefan
NASA EDGE YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/NASAedge
NASA EDGE Ustream: www.ustream.tv/nasaedge

Guests on the show:
Jim Green, NASA's Chief Scientist
Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Eric Christian, deputy principal investigator of Integrated Science Investigations of the Sun (ISOIS), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Betsy Congdon, Parker Solar Probe Thermal Protection System lead engineer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Mic Woltman, chief, Fleet Systems Integration Branch, NASA's Launch Services Program

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to lift off atop a ULA Delta IV Heavy at 3:33 a.m. EDT, at the opening of a 65-minute window, on Saturday, Aug. 11.

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https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/parker-solar-probe-ready-for-launch-on-mission-to-the-sun
ЦитироватьAug. 10, 2018

Parker Solar Probe Ready for Launch on Mission to the Sun



Packed safely inside the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket payload fairing, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is slated to launch on Saturday, August 11, 2018, at 3:33 a.m. EDT fr om Launch Complex 37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Parker Solar Probe will travel through the Sun's atmosphere, closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it. The mission will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun, wh ere changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Last Updated: Aug. 10, 2018
Editor: Yvette Smith

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ЦитироватьNASA Sun & Space‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASASun 1 ч. назад

Just a few hours until we launch Parker #SolarProbe! Follow along on Twitter with us and other accounts tweeting about the mission:
https://twitter.com/NASASun/lists/parker-solar-probe/members ...

Launch is targeted for Saturday, Aug. 11, at 3:33 a.m. EDT.