The innovative team of NASA engineers and scientists, the physics laboratory Applied Johns Hopkins in Laurel, Maryland and more than 40 other partner organizations across the country that created the Parker solar probe The mission received the Robert J. Collier 2024 trophy by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA). This annual price recognizes the most exceptional realization of aeronautics and astronautics in America with regard to the improvement of performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles the previous year.
“Congratulations to the whole of the Solar Sudor Parker team for this well -deserved recognition,” said the interim administrator of NASA, Janet Petro. “The research on the pioneer of this mission rewrites the manuals on solar science by going to a place that no object of human manufacture has never been and advancing the efforts of NASA to better understand our solar system and the influence of the sun, with lasting advantages for all of us. Like the first to touch the sun and the fastest human manufacturing object ever built, Parker Solar Probe is a testament against human ingenuity.”
December 24, 2024Parker Solar Probe has made its approach closest to the sun, passing deep into the crown of the sun, only 3.8 million miles above the surface of the sun and at top speed of almost 430,000 MPH, inaugurating a new era of scientific discovery and spatial exploration.
“This award is a recognition of relentless dedication and the hard work of the Solar Probe team Parker. I am so proud of this team and honored to be part of it, “said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, scientific mission management, NASA headquarters in Washington. “By studying the sun closer than ever, we continue to advance our understanding not only of our closest star, but also from the stars through our universe. The historic approaches to Parker Solar The probe in the sun bear witness to the incredible engineering that made this record trip.”
Three new progress in aerospace technology was essential to allow these record performance: the first is the thermal protection system, or thermal shield, which protects the spacecraft and is designed to withstand brutal temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The thermal protection system allows parker to electronics and instruments to operate near the room temperature.
Additional parker innovations included actively actively strictly cooled solar networks that protect themselves from overexposure to intense solar energy while fueling the spaceship, and a fully autonomous spaceship system that can manage its own flight behavior, orientation and configuration for both months. Parker has relied on all these vital technologies every day since its launch almost seven years ago in August 2018.
“I am delighted with the probe team by Parker Solar on the reception of this well -deserved prize,” said Joe Westlake, director of the Heliophysical Division at the NASA headquarters. “New information on the sun made available thanks to this mission will improve our ability to prepare for spatial weather events through the solar system, as well as better to understand the very star that makes our lives on earth.”
The close observations of Parker on solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and solar particles events, are essential to advance our understanding of the science of our sun and the phenomena that lead high -energy weather events that pose risks for satellites, air trips, astronauts and even electrical networks on earth. Understanding fundamental physics behind the events that stimulate spatial time will allow more reliable predictions and an exposure lower than astronauts to dangerous radiation during future deep space missions to the moon and Mars.
“This incredible team gave life to an incredibly difficult spatial scientific mission which had been studied and determined to be impossible, for more than 60 years. They did so by resolving many longtime technological challenges and considerably progressing the capacity of the spatial light in our country, “said the director of APL Ralph Semmel. “The collar trophy is a well -deserved recognition for this phenomenal group of NASA innovators, APL and our industry and research partners from across the country.”
Awarded for the first time in 1911, the winner of the Robert J. Collier trophy was selected by a group of aeronautical leaders chosen by NAA. The necklace trophy is housed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
“Traveling three times closer to the sun and seven times faster than any spaceship before, Parker’s technological innovations have enabled humanity to reach the atmosphere of the sun for the first time,” said Bobby Braun, head of the APL space exploration sector. “We are all extremely proud that the solar probe team Parker joins a long inheritance of prestigious aerospace efforts that have redefined technology and changed history.”
“The realization of the solar probe team Parker to win the 2024 necklace is a brilliant example of determination, genius and teamwork,” said the president and chief executive officer of NAA, Amy Spowart. “It is a distinct honor for the NAA to recognize and celebrate the remarkable team that has transformed the impossible into reality.”
Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA Living with a Star Program to explore the aspects of the Sun-Earth system which directly affect life and society. The Living With A Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the NASA scientific mission management in Washington. The applied physics laboratory designed, built and operates the spaceship and manages the mission of NASA.
By Geoff Brown
Physics laboratory applied to Johns Hopkins University