Heliophysics – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Launch of solar probe scrubbed by technical issue in terminal countdown

August 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

An automatic alarm in the final two minutes of the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s countdown early Saturday forced officials to delay blastoff with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe by 24 hours.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy revealed for solar probe launch

August 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

These photos taken Friday evening show the mobile gantry being wheeled away from a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral, hours before its scheduled blastoff with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe.

Delta 4-Heavy launch timeline with Parker Solar Probe

August 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, crowned by a solid-fueled upper stage kick motor, will send NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a speedy voyage through the inner solar system following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

Watch the Parker Solar Probe pre-launch mission briefing

August 10, 2018 Spaceflight Now

NASA held a pre-launch briefing for the Parker Solar Probe mission on Thursday, August 9, 2018, at the Kennedy Space Center.

Live coverage: Delta 4-Heavy launches with NASA solar probe

August 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket climbed into space Sunday with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a daring mission to explore the atmosphere of the sun. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral occurred at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

Parker Solar Probe cleared for launch to ‘touch the sun’

August 9, 2018 William Harwood

NASA managers Thursday cleared the $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe for launch early Saturday on a daring mission to “touch the sun,” repeatedly flying through its outer atmosphere to find out why the blazing corona is millions of degrees hotter than our star’s visible surface.

Photos: Parker Solar Probe closed up inside Delta 4 fairing for launch

August 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

Ready for a journey into the sun’s enigmatic, scorching corona, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has been encapsulated inside the nose cone of its Delta 4-Heavy rocket for liftoff Saturday.

Q&A with Andrew Driesman, project manager for Parker Solar Probe (members only)

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

Andrew Driesman is project manager for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, leading a team of engineers and operators in charge of the first mission to fly through the sun’s atmosphere.

Solar probe moves into launch position at Cape Canaveral

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, fueled and buttoned up for liftoff Aug. 11 on the first mission to fly through the sun’s corona, arrived at its launch pad at Cape Canaveral early Tuesday after a convoy trip from a nearby fueling and test facility.

Launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe rescheduled for Aug. 6

July 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

The launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, on the verge of kicking off a seven-year mission culminating in passages through the sun’s atmosphere, has been delayed to Aug. 6 to resolve a technical snag encountered during encapsulation of the spacecraft inside the nose shroud of its United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket.