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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Home A Sun-skimming mission like Parker Solar Probe has been a dream of scientists for decades, but only recently has the needed technology – like the heat shield, solar array cooling system, and fault management system – been available to make such a mission a reality. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman) A Sun-skimming mission like Parker Solar Probe has been a dream of scientists for decades, but only recently has the needed technology – like the heat shield, solar array cooling system, and fault management system – been available to make such a mission a reality. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

A Sun-skimming mission like Parker Solar Probe has been a dream of scientists for decades, but only recently has the needed technology – like the heat shield, solar array cooling system, and fault management system – been available to make such a mission a reality. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

A Sun-skimming mission like Parker Solar Probe has been a dream of scientists for decades, but only recently has the needed technology – like the heat shield, solar array cooling system, and fault management system – been available to make such a mission a reality. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

A Sun-skimming mission like Parker Solar Probe has been a dream of scientists for decades, but only recently has the needed technology – like the heat shield, solar array cooling system, and fault management system – been available to make such a mission a reality. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

Illustration of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe leaving Earth. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)
Parker Solar Probe will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission requires such a powerful launch vehicle – despite the spacecraft’s relatively small size – because of the energy needed to achieve Parker Solar Probe’s Sun-grazing orbit. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)