Parker Solar Probe

On August 12, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe launched into space with the mission to gather critical data on the activity of the sun. It will go closer to the sun than any other spacecraft before—more than seven times closer in fact—in order to study the sun’s corona. The Parker Solar Probe mission is concerned with two major questions. Firstly, how is the corona, the outer aura surrounding the sun, hotter than the outermost layer of the sun, the photosphere? Secondly, how does solar wind accelerate? By answering these questions, we can with greater accuracy determine and forecast space weather and the effects it may have on earth. In order to answer these questions, the Parker Solar Probe is outfitted with several instruments capable of studying magnetic fields, solar winds, and plasma. A thick carbon-composite shield will allow the probe to be able to withstand a whopping 2500 degrees Fahrenheit or 1377 degrees Celsius. It will continue to make 24 orbits around the sun and fly by Venus seven times on its seven-year-long journey.