NASA's Parker Solar Probe Mission.
                     NASA's 
Parker Solar 
Probe 
Mission
Introduction
NASA's historic Parker Solar 
Probe mission is revolutionizing 
our understanding of the Sun, 
where changing conditions can 
propagate out into the solar 
system, affecting Earth and 
other worlds. 
Source: www.nasa.gov
Parker Solar 
Probe
Parker Solar Probe travels 
through the Sun’s atmosphere, 
closer to the surface than any 
spacecraft before it, facing 
brutal heat and radiation 
conditions to provide humanity 
with the closest-ever 
observations of a star.
Source: www.nasa.gov
Journey to 
the Sun
In order to unlock the mysteries 
of the Sun's atmosphere, Parker 
Solar Probe uses Venus’ gravity 
during seven flybys over nearly 
seven years to gradually bring 
its orbit closer to the Sun.
Source: www.nasa.gov
Fly through the 
Sun’s atmosphere
The spacecraft will fly through 
the Sun’s atmosphere as close 
as 3.8 million miles to our star’s 
surface, well within the orbit of 
Mercury and more than seven 
times closer than any 
spacecraft has come before. 
Source: www.nasa.gov
Corona
Flying into the outermost part 
of the Sun's atmosphere, known 
as the corona, for the first time, 
Parker Solar Probe employs a 
combination of in situ 
measurements and imaging to 
revolutionize our understanding 
of the corona and expand our 
knowledge of the origin and 
evolution of the solar wind.
Source: www.nasa.gov
Extreme 
Exploration
Parker Solar Probe performs its 
scientific investigations in a 
hazardous region of intense 
heat and solar radiation.
Source: www.nasa.gov
Highest-energy 
solar particles
 The spacecraft will fly close 
enough to the Sun to watch the 
solar wind speed up from 
subsonic to supersonic, and it 
will fly though the birthplace of 
the highest-energy solar 
particles.
Source: www.nasa.gov
Spacecraft and 
instruments 
The spacecraft and instruments 
are protected from the Sun’s 
heat by a 4.5-inch-thick (11.43 
cm) carbon-composite shield, 
which needs to withstand 
temperatures outside the 
spacecraft that reach nearly 
2,500 F (1,377 C).
Source: www.nasa.gov
Zoomed-in images 
Solar Orbiter’s zoomed-in 
images plus simultaneous 
measurements of the solar wind 
may allow scientists to trace 
the wind’s energetic particles 
back to their birthplaces on the 
sun’s surface. 
Source: www.nasa.gov
The Future
This orbit is the first time that 
Parker Solar Probe and Solar 
Orbiter will watch the sun in 
tandem, but not the last. There 
will be plenty of opportunities 
like this one.
Source: www.nasa.gov