Nasa has unveiled its plan to launch a mission to the Sun next year, in order to study the star’s atmosphere and answer questions about perplexed solar physics.

Marking the world’s first probe to the Sun, the proposed mission is part of Nasa’s Living With a Star (LWS) programme to explore aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The programme is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Centre.

Nasa has renamed the mission as Parker Solar Probe in honour of astrophysicist Eugene Parker.

Nasa Washington Science Mission Directorate associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said: “This is the first time Nasa has named a spacecraft for a living individual.

“The solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before."

“It’s a testament to the importance of his body of work, founding a new field of science that also inspired my own research and many important science questions Nasa continues to study and further understand every day.”

In the 1950s, Parker predicted the existence of solar wind. According to him, an entire complex system of plasmas, magnetic fields and energetic particles compose the phenomenon of solar wind.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Parker also theorised an explanation for the superheated solar atmosphere, which, contrary to what was expected by physics laws, is hotter than the surface of the sun itself.

Parker said: “The solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before.

“One would like to have some more detailed measurements of what’s going on in the solar wind. I’m sure that there will be some surprises. There always are.”

Parker is currently working as a professor at University of Chicago, US.

Image: Illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Photo: courtesy of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.