Parker Solar Probe : en route to the Sun!
Pushing the boundaries of discovery
Just 46 days after its launch on Sunday 12th August 2018 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has transmitted back to Earth first-light data, giving a good indication of the function of its instrument suites as it continues on its mission to the Sun.
The Parker Solar Probe is en route to the Sun's surface, and more specifically, to the corona, the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere. The probe seeks to take measurements and capture images to unlock the mysteries of the Sun's atmosphere and to discover more about the origin of solar winds. NASA's scientists hope that Parker Solar will get closer to the solar surface than any other probe before.
The probe is currently approaching Venus where it will make its first scientific studies as it performs its first gravity assist. Photos of the planet will then be transmitted by Thales Microwave & Imaging Sub-Systems Travelling Wave Tubes (TWTs), and then broadcasted by NASA. At the end of November, the Parker Solar Probe will finish its trajectory in elliptical orbit and will be just 24 million kilometers from the Sun.
High performing products in extreme conditions
The surface of the Sun reaches 6 000°C. Paradoxically, the further from the so called "crown" (corona), the more the temperature increases - reaching 3 million degrees Celsius - without scientists being able to explain it. It is this environment that the Parker Solar Probe aims to study.
The trajectory of the probe will expose it to these extreme temperatures with a maximum of 1 400°C. On the approach to its target destination, the solar panels will initially fold back and thanks to a carbon-composite shield 4.5 inches thick, the probe will be protected from the powerful heatwaves of the Sun. Its temperature should be maintained at around 30°C with only the X-band Travelling Wave Tube in operation during this time. As it gradually moves away from the extreme temperatures of the Sun, the probe will be reactivated. With the solar panels back in action, the Ka-band TWT TH4606C will be able to broadcast back to Earth all the scientific data it has collected during its observation phase.
The flight plan is simple, 7 flybys using the gravity of Venus to bring its orbit closer and closer to the Sun. In total, 6 TWTs produced by Thales are present on board the Parker Solar Probe, allowing the transmission of all of NASA's new discoveries. To this day, the Sun has never been studied in situ and the probe is expected to come over seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before. Parker Solar Probe is entering a new chapter of spatial discovery, seeking to solve the mysteries of the solar atmosphere.
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