Tracking spacecraft as they traverse deep space isn't easy. So far, it's been done manually, with operators of NASA's Deep Space Network, one of the most capable communication arrays for contacting probes on interplanetary ...
Space Exploration
Oct 2, 2023
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10
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has racked up an impressive list of superlatives in its first five years of operations: It's the closest spacecraft to the sun, the fastest human-made object and the first mission to ever "touch ...
Space Exploration
Sep 22, 2023
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417
On Sept. 5, 2022, NASA's Parker Solar Probe soared gracefully through one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) ever recorded—not only an impressive feat of engineering, but a huge boon for the scientific community. ...
Astronomy
Sep 18, 2023
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86
A cosmic alignment and a little bit of spacecraft gymnastics has provided a ground-breaking measurement that is helping solve the 65-year-old cosmic mystery of why the sun's atmosphere is so hot.
Astronomy
Sep 15, 2023
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479
Near Earth's poles, observers of the night sky often behold aurorae, colorful light shows in the upper atmosphere caused by interactions between the solar wind and our planet's magnetosphere. A little closer to the equator, ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 11, 2023
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12
NASA's Parker Solar Probe zoomed past Venus on Aug. 21, using the planet's gravity to aim toward a record-setting series of flights around the sun that start next month.
Space Exploration
Aug 23, 2023
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55
On Aug. 12, 2018—five years ago this week—NASA's Parker Solar Probe blasted off atop a powerful Delta IV rocket from what is now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The predawn launch into the skies over the Florida coast ...
Space Exploration
Aug 14, 2023
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19
NASA's Parker Solar Probe executed a short maneuver on Aug. 3, 2023, that kept the spacecraft on track to hit the aim point for the mission's sixth Venus flyby on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023.
Space Exploration
Aug 10, 2023
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37
NASA's Parker Solar Probe accomplished a milestone on June 27, 2023—its 16th orbit of the sun. This included a close approach to the sun (known as perihelion) on June 22, 2023, where the spacecraft came within 5.3 million ...
Space Exploration
Jul 3, 2023
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108
There are always more space missions than there is money to support them. Ultimately, some make the cut, and some do not. Various factors go into that decision, though those factors can change over the years and decades that ...
Astronomy
Jun 12, 2023
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30
