Parker Solar Probe

One year after the Parker Solar Probe left Earth forever for a date with the sun, the spacecraft is having a fantastic run. The mission, named after University of Chicago Professor Eugene Parker to honor his decades of work which shaped the field of heliophysics, has already come closer to the sun than any spacecraft ever has—and continues to gradually make its way closer. Prof. Parker traveled to watch the spacecraft launch in Cape Canaveral on Aug. 12, 2018, witnessing his first-ever rocket launch. “So much has gone into this launch, and then to see it all disappear slowly—fading away into the night sky, knowing it will never come back—it was a moving experience,” he said. Since then, Parker has been receiving updates on the mission from its scientists. He sat down with NASA's Nicky Fox to get an update on the mission's progress. ➡ Subscribe: About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research.

Eugene Parker, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Chicago, and namesake of NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission, discusses his work in solar physics and the spacecraft that bears his name with Parker Solar Probe project scientist Nicola Fox, from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star flight program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA. APL designed and built the spacecraft and will also operate it. Thanks to the University of Chicago for footage and images of Dr. Parker Learn more at and

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will study the Sun to help us better understand the corona, the solar wind and other solar activity that might impact life on Earth. The mission was named for Eugene Parker, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. The Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to be launched by a Delta IV Heavy rocket on 11 August 2018. Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman/Goddard Space Flight Center #Heliophysics #SolarProbe

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, speaks at a May 31 event at the University of Chicago, during which NASA announced it has named the first mission to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun’s atmosphere after UChicago Prof. Eugene Parker. Set to launch in summer 2018, the Parker Solar Probe is the first NASA spacecraft named for a living individual. ➡ Subscribe: About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research.This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholarsto challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. #UChicago on the Web: Home: News: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: University of Chicago on YouTube: /uchicago *** ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please email digicomm@uchicago.edu.

Eugene Parker, Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, watches the Aug. 12, 2018 launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission is named in honor of Parker for his pioneering research on the sun and the solar wind. (Footage courtesy of NASA and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory) ➡ Subscribe: About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research.This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholarsto challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. #UChicago on the Web: Home: News: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: University of Chicago on YouTube: /uchicago *** ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please email digicomm@uchicago.edu.

On May 31, NASA renamed humanity’s first mission to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun’s atmosphere in honor of Professor Eugene Parker, a pioneering physicist at the University of Chicago. This is the first time in agency history a spacecraft has been named for a living individual. Parker, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Physics, is best known for developing the concept of solar wind—the stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun. Previously named Solar Probe Plus, the Parker Solar Probe will launch in summer 2018. Placed in orbit within four million miles of the sun’s surface, and facing heat and radiation unlike any spacecraft in history, the spacecraft will explore the sun’s outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of how stars work. The resulting data will improve forecasts of major space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronaut

NASA will soon launch the Parker Solar Probe, the first NASA mission named after a living person, Prof. Emeritus Eugene Parker, in recognition of his discovery of solar wind. ➡ Subscribe: About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research.This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholarsto challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. #UChicago on the Web: Home: News: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: University of Chicago on YouTube: /uchicago *** ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please email digicomm@uchicago.edu.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will fly through the punishing heat of the sun’s outer atmosphere. Subscribe: More from The New York Times Video: ---------- Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch.

Eugene Parker, Professor Emeritus in Physics at the University of Chicago, discusses his scientific research on the sun, including his landmark discovery of the solar wind. Nearly 60 years ago, Parker first coined the term solar wind to describe the stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun. On May 31, 2017, NASA honored Parker by naming its first mission to the sun—the Parker Solar Probe—in his honor. (Video by UChicago Creative) Learn more here: ➡ Subscribe: About #UChicago: Since its founding in 1890, the University of Chicago has been a destination for rigorous inquiry and field-defining research.This transformative academic experience empowers students and scholarsto challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. #UChicago on the Web: Home: News: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: University of Chicago on YouTube: /uchicago *** ACCESSIBILITY: If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related requ