Sunset Show for Parker Solar Probe

  • Released Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Early in the morning of Aug. 12, NASA launched Parker Solar Probe, humanity’s first mission to the Sun. This spacecraft will fly closer to the Sun than any before it, in a daring journey facing brutal heat and radiation.

Parker Solar Probe sets its sights on the Sun’s scorching outer atmosphere, called the corona, in order to solve our star’s greatest mysteries. It will revolutionize our understanding not only of the Sun, but also the space around us, and even the lives of stars beyond our solar system — crucial information as we explore more of space.

On Aug. 10, scientists and mission experts gathered at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for a live sunset show — one of the last times the Sun set on Parker Solar Probe before it launched — to talk about what this landmark mission will teach us of the Sun.

Guests included:
- Jim Spann, Chief Solar Scientist, NASA HQ
- Yari Collado-Vega, Space Weather Scientist, NASA Goddard
- C. Alex Young, Solar Scientist, NASA Goddard
- Nicola Fox, Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

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Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Release date

This page was originally published on Wednesday, August 22, 2018.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:46 PM EDT.


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