Why Parker Solar Probe?

We live in the Sun's atmosphere! Parker Solar Probe is providing insight on a critical link in the Sun-Earth connection. Data this mission is providing will be key to understanding and, perhaps, even forecasting space weather.

We need to go so close because:

• The corona is unstable, producing the solar wind, flares and coronal mass ejections – and the best way to explore it is at its source!
• Millions of tons of highly magnetized material can erupt from the Sun at speeds of several millions of miles an hour – fast enough to get from Washington to Los Angeles in seconds!

Why is the corona hotter than the surface? Why is there a solar wind?

The concept for a "Solar Probe" dates back to an October 1958 report from the Simpson Committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Space Science Board, and multiple strategic space roadmaps and Decadal Surveys prioritized a need to answer two questions:

• Why is the solar corona so much hotter than the photosphere?
• How is the solar wind accelerated?

We live in the atmosphere of the Sun.

By exploring the corona and inner heliosphere, Parker Solar Probe is providing insights into the direct connections between solar activity and the environment and technological infrastructure on Earth. The mission contributes to NASA's efforts to learn more about the fundamental physics of the heliosphere, aurora and magnetospheres of Earth and other planets, all information that will help us improve satellite communications, power grid issues, pipeline erosion, radiation exposure on airline flights and astronaut safety.

Until we can explain what's happening close to the Sun, we will not be able to accurately predict space weather effects that can cause havoc at our own planet.