Artists idea of NASAs Parker Solar Probe observing the sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
Comments From the Mission Operations Manager
” Parker Solar Probe stays on track to make its closest flybys yet of the Sun,” stated Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe objective operations manager from APL. “Parkers success is a tribute to the entire objective team, but Im especially happy with the mission operators and the job theyve done over the previous five years to guarantee the flawless operation of this extraordinary, history-making spacecraft.”
Standing, from left, Parker Solar Probe Mission Operations Manager Nick Pinkine and Project Manager Helene Winters talk about the development of Parkers gravity assist flyby of Venus with members of the spacecraft operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on August 21. Credit: NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL/Brooke Hammack
Role of Venus Gravity Assists
Venus gravity helps are necessary to directing Parker Solar Probe progressively closer to the Sun; the spacecraft depends on the world to minimize its orbital energy, which in turn allows it to travel closer to the Sun– where, since 2018, it has actually been exploring the origins and unlocking the secrets of the solar wind and other properties of the near-Sun environment at their source.
This was the Parker objectives sixth of 7 planned Venus gravity helps. Todays flyby worked as an orbit maneuver applying a velocity change– called “delta-V”– on Parker Solar Probe, reducing its orbital speed by about 5,932 miles per hour (9,547 kilometers per hour). The maneuver altered the spacecrafts orbit and set Parker Solar Probe up for its next 5 close go by the Sun, the very first of which happens on September 27.
On each close method (referred to as perihelion), Parker Solar Probe will set or match its own speed and range records when it concerns within simply 4.5 million miles (7.3 million kilometers) from the solar surface area, while moving close to 394,800 miles (635,000 km) per hour.
Guidance and Control Lead Sarah Hefter, of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, keeps track of Parker Solar Probes trek around Venus in the Parker Mission Operations Center at APL on August 21. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Brooke Hammack
The Living With a Star Program
Parker Solar Probe was established as part of NASAs Living With a Star program to check out aspects of the Sun-Earth system that straight affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is handled by the agencys Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL was accountable for creating, constructing, and running the Parker Solar Probe, and likewise manages its objective on behalf of NASA.
An illustration of Parker Solar Probe passing Venus. The maneuver altered the spacecrafts orbit and set Parker Solar Probe up for its next 5 close passes by the Sun, the very first of which happens on September 27.
Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASAs Living With a Star program to check out elements of the Sun-Earth system that straight affect life and society. APL was responsible for developing, constructing, and running the Parker Solar Probe, and also manages its objective on behalf of NASA.
An illustration of Parker Solar Probe passing Venus. Just recently, the spacecraft carried out a close flyby of Venus to set itself up for a series of record-setting orbits around the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
NASAs Parker Solar Probe utilized a Venus flyby to prepare for its upcoming record-setting orbits around the Sun, intending to study the Suns secrets as part of the Living With a Star program.
NASAs Parker Solar Probe zoomed previous Venus on August 21, utilizing the worlds gravity to aim towards a record-setting series of flights around the Sun that begin next month.
At right before 8:03 a.m. EDT, moving around 15 miles (more than 24 kilometers) per second, or 54,000 miles (85,000 km) per hour, Parker Solar Probe passed 2,487 miles (4,003 kilometers) above the Venusian surface as it curved around the planet towards the inner planetary system. The mission operations group at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, kept in contact with the spacecraft during the flyby through NASAs Deep Space Network– other than for an anticipated 8 minutes at closest technique, when Venus was in between Earth and Parker– and identified the spacecraft was on course and running typically.
