Parker Solar Probe Looks Back Home as it Dives to the Sun

The view from Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR instrument on Sept. 25, 2018, shows Earth, the bright sphere near the middle of the right-hand panel. The elongated mark toward the bottom of the panel is a lens reflection from the WISPR instrument.
Credits: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   27 October 2018

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  NASA’s recently launched Parker Solar Probe has snapped a glorious view looking back home to all of humanity as it continues diving towards its first close encounter with the Sun. 

The magnificent view of the 'Earth from Space' - seen above - was snapped from a distance of 27 million miles (43 million km) from her Home Planet as the spacecraft was speeding to its first flyby of the Planet Venus setting up the trajectory for the 1^st close flyby of the Sun. 

“On Sept. 25, 2018, Parker Solar Probe captured a view of Earth as it sped toward the first Venus gravity assist of the mission,” NASA announced in a statement.

“Earth is the bright, round object visible in the right side of the image.”

“Parker captured this image while speeding toward the 1^st Venus gravity assist of our Mission to “touch” the Sun.”

The car sized Parker successfully barreled past Venus at about 4:45 a.m. EDT, Oct. 3 - barely 1500 miles (2400 km) above the surface.  

The newly released image was captured by Parker’s only imaging instrument known as WISPR, or Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe.

“During science phases, WISPR sees structures within the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, before they pass over the spacecraft.”

The newly released Parker image is shown in 2 panels which come from the WISPR instruments two telescopes, which point in slightly different directions and have different fields of view. 

The left-hand image was captured by inner telescope, while the right-hand image showing Earth was captured by the outer telescope.

The team also released an enlarged zoomed in image of Earth.

A close-up of Earth from WISPR's Sept. 25, 2018, image shows what appears to be a bulge on our planet’s right side — this is the Moon.  Credits: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

If you look closely you may notice a slight bulge on the right side.

That bulge is the Moon – “just peeking out from behind Earth.”

Below Earth is a hemispherical shaped feature that’s a result of lens flare produced as a result of very bright Earthshine.

Other well known celestial objects are also visible in the image — like Pleiades to the low-left of Earth in the right-hand image and the two bright objects, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix, near the bottom of the left-hand image. They appear elongated because of reflections on the edge of the detector, says NASA. 

The 1^st solar encounter period begins on Oct. 31 and lasts through Nov. 11.

Closest approach to the Sun will occur on Nov. 5. 

The mission will conduct 7 Venus flyby’s to set up 24 perihelion close encounters with the sun through 2024. The Venus flyby’s will precisely set its trajectory toward the Sun and slow the probe down instead of speeding it up. 

The $1 Billion mission began with a dazzling middle-of-the-night blastoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Aug. 12 – and delivered the car sized spacecraft to its intended trajectory towards Venus and the Sun.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and dive into the corona, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. From camera at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The 23-story tall triple barreled United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched at 3:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 12 from the Florida Space Coast and put on a brilliant display of fire power with 2.1 million pounds of thrust spewing forth from the trio of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen RS-68A main engines that quickly turned night into day a few hours before Sundays natural sunrise under nearly cloud-free skies.

Check out our prior Space UpClose gallery of photos and videos. Plus my BBC TV World News prelaunch interview. 

Here’s my Parker launch video from a remote camera set at pad 37:

Video Caption: Launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket on Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on humanity’s 1^st mission to our sun that will fly through the sun’s atmosphere or corona - as seen in this remote camera video taken at the pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Here’s my BBC TV World News Pre-Launch interview:

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.

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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

The orbit design for the Parker Solar Probe mission illustrating the trajectory through the inner solar system following Aug. 12, 2018 launch from Cape Canaveral, FL.  Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Northrop Grumman Names Space Station Bound Cygnus Cargo Craft in Honor of Apollo Moonwalker John Young

The Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft is prepped inside clean room High Bay facility at NASA Wallops and named in honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Blastoff on Antares rocket is slated for Nov. 15, 2018 from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   25 October 2018

NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, VA – The next Cygnus spacecraft flying critical American science experiments and cargo bound for the International Space Station (ISS) has been named in honor of John Young – one of NASA’s & America's most renowned astronauts who became the 9^th human to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission in 1972 and commanded the first Space Shuttle mission in 1981.

The Cygnus NG-10 cargo freighter, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation, was christened the S.S. John Young - in memory of John Young who was NASA’s longest serving astronaut and passed away earlier this year in January at age 87.

The S.S. John Young will deliver nearly 4 tons of research experiments and station hardware and crew supplies to the trio of astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the orbiting science outpost with blastoff atop the 2 stage Antares rocket scheduled in approximately three weeks' time on Nov. 15 on Northrop Grumman's 10^th station resupply cargo mission for NASA. 

Among the research items on board will be a 3D printer/fabricator to aid NASA’s Deep Space exploration efforts.

The Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft is prepped inside clean room High Bay facility at NASA Wallops and named in honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Blastoff on Antares rocket is slated for Nov. 15, 2018 from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

The John Young dedication announcement was made by Rick Mastracchio, former NASA astronaut and current senior director of Commercial Resupply Services for Northrop Grumman, on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at a naming ceremony held with Cygnus inside the H-100 cleanroom High Bay processing facility at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia shore - with NASA, company officials and news media in attendance including Space UpClose. 

Enjoy my exclusive Space UpClose gallery of Cygnus & Antares photos herein. 

“We are thrilled to announce that the Cygnus spacecraft for our 10th operational cargo resupply mission launch to the International Space Station is named in honor of John Young - one of the legends of space travel and one of my personal heroes,” Mastracchio said. Young was an accomplished naval officer, test pilot & NASA astronaut. 

“We have many rich traditions in the space business and I’ve been part of the Space Shuttle and Soyuz launches.”

“Northrop Grumman has its own traditions and we traditionally name each Cygnus spacecraft in honor of astronauts or heroes in the space industry and individuals who contributed to the United States' commercial space program. Young’s bravery and record of NASA “firsts” pushed the boundaries of human space exploration, making him an ideal honoree for the NG-10 Mission.”

“Over the past year we named vehicles after Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 moonwalker, and JR Thompson, who played key roles at both NASA and as the founder of Orbital Sciences."

“John was selected in 1962 as part of the second group of NASA astronauts. He flew on the first Gemini, Mission 3 with Gus Grissom. Later he flew on a second Gemini mission - Gemini 10. He flew two Apollo missions, first on Apollo 10 where they practiced the actual moon landing. And then on the Apollo 16 landing mission where he conducted three EVA’s and drove the lunar rover across the Moon’s surface.”

“Young flew the first space shuttle on STS-1 and finished up his spaceflight career with STS-9.” 

“John was a great astronaut and a great person! And I got to work with John Young for many years.” 

“I am very excited that we are honoring John Young here,” Mastracchio stated with great pride at the Cygnus cleanroom dedication event at NASA Wallops on Oct. 24. 

Former NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio announces Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft being prepped inside clean room High Bay facility at NASA Wallops is named in honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Blastoff on Antares rocket is slated for Nov. 15, 2018 from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

Young was launched on a then record of 6 space missions and is the only human to have flown on NASA’s project Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle spacecraft. He also launched a 7^th time from the Moon departing on the Apollo 16 lunar module to close out NASA’s 5^th lunar landing mission.  
He logged over 865 hours in space altogether on Gemini 3 (1^st Gemini), Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16 (lunar landing), STS-1 (1^st space shuttle) and finally STS-9; totaling 34 days 19 hours 39 minutes. 

“He is the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times -- or seven times, when counting his liftoff from the Moon during Apollo 16,” NASA said in a statement mourning his passing in January.

Young was active as a NASA astronaut for over 42 years of active service.

“Young was a pioneer in the field of human spaceflight who positioned future astronauts to live and work at the International Space Station,” said Northrop Grumman. 

The Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft is prepped inside clean room High Bay facility at NASA Wallops and named in honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Blastoff on Antares rocket is slated for Nov. 15, 2018 from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

The Cygnus S.S. John Young, is scheduled to launch aboard the company's upgraded Antares 230 version rocket on Thursday November 15 at 4:50 a.m. EDT  from seaside pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  

Northrop Grumman Antares rockets being processed for launch inside the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF). Booster assembly at right slated for Nov. 15, 2018 launch from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

“We are on target to launch Antares and Cygnus on Nov. 15 at this time,” Kurt Eberly, Antares program manager Northrop Grumman VP, told Space UpClose in an interview during the Cygnus dedication event at NASA Wallops on Oct. 24.

“Of course it always depends on NASA’s requirements which can change."

“Overall this launch [of NG-10] will be very similar to the last one OA-9 [when the aerospace company was still independently operating as Orbital ATK] in May of this year 2018.” 

“OA-9 was very successful,” said Eberly.  See my launch photo below.

The Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft is prepped inside clean room High Bay facility at NASA Wallops and named in honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Blastoff on Antares rocket is slated for Nov. 15, 2018 from pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia bound for the International Space Station.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

And indeed some items on the manifest will change as a result of the recent Soyuz launch abort failure of the MS-10 crew who landed safely after an emergency in flight abort occurred just 2 minutes after liftoff on Oct. 11.

“We have started loading some of the cargo on Cygnus,” former NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio told me in a clean room interview.

“There will be some changes in the manifest from what had been planned prior to the Soyuz incident.” 

“But NASA is still in the process of deciding. We can add cargo as late as about 4 days prior to liftoff with the current Cygnus configuration,” Mastracchio explained to me. 

The next step was placing Cygnus in a protective crate and wheeled transporter and moving it vertically to the V-55 fueling facility building. Then it will be transported on Nov. 1 to the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) for encapsulation in the payload fairing and integration with the Antares rocket.

Cygnus will be loaded with cargo up to 3,450 kg (7,605 lb.) comprising science experiments, research gear, food, water, spare parts, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to support the Expedition 57 and 58 crews

Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific equipment to the space station as part of Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1) contract with NASA– totaling 11 cargo flights.

NG-10 is the next to last followed by NG-11 next spring, said Eberly.

“Northrop Grumman also has been awarded the follow on CRS-2 contract from NASA comprising at least 6 more cargo missions.”

Launch of Orbital ATK OA-9 Antares/Cygnus to the ISS on 21 May 2018 from NASA Wallops, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

To date, Cygnus spacecraft have delivered more than 23,000 kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station, and removed 17,000 kilograms of disposable cargo. 

The prior Cygnus cargo freighter was successfully launched by an Antares 230 vehicle from Wallops on May 21, 2018 on the Orbital ATK OA-9 resupply mission for NASA before the company merged with Northrop Grumman. 

Pre-Launch view of Orbital ATK OA-9 Antares/Cygnus  mission to the ISS on 21 May 2018 from NASA Wallops, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Former NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Ken Kremer/Space UpClose give 2 thumbs up inside NASA Wallops cleanroom for Northrop Grumman built Cygnus NG-10 cargo spacecraft named in honor of honor NASA astronaut and Apollo 16 moonwalker John Young on Oct. 24, 2018.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

NASA CubeSat Snaps 1st Ever Image of Mars

One of NASA's twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2, 2018 -- the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft -- has done so.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   22 October 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA's first ever interplanetary cubesats – named MarCO- have snapped an image of Mars for the first time ever! - while enroute to the fourth rock from the sun!

Although tiny by spacecraft standards, it’s a big leap in the demonstrated capabilities of cubesats which heretofore have only orbited Earth. They are technology demonstration experiments who’s main goal is to try and prove they can survive the long trip to Mars and transmit data and pave the way for future interplanetary cubesats to explore the solar system. 

The image released today by NASA was transmitted by one of the two identical briefcase sized cubesats - MarCO-A and MarCO-B - launched to the Red Planet as part of the agency’s InSight Mars lander mission which is nearing its landing culmination on Nov. 26.  

The image, shown above, was snapped on Oct. 3 by MarCO-B and is “the first image of the Red Planet ever produced by this class of tiny, low-cost spacecraft,” NASA said in a statement.

It  was taken from a distance of roughly 8 million miles (12.8 million kilometers) from Mars by the wide angle camera on MarCO which stands for Mars Cube One.

An annotated version is shown below.

One of NASA's twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2, 2018 -- the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft -- has done so.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The twin CubeSats are officially called MarCO-A and MarCO-B but nicknamed "EVE" and "Wall-E" by their engineering team after characters in the PIXAR film ‘Wall-E’.

The successful  camera image was taken looking straight out from the deck of the CubeSat after several test images.

Parts of the high-gain antenna are visible. Mars appears as a small red dot at the right of the image looking like a ‘red pinprick’. 

The MarCO team “hopes to produce more images as the CubeSats approach Mars ahead of Nov. 26. That's when they'll demonstrate their communications capabilities while NASA's InSight spacecraft attempts to land on the Red Planet. (The InSight mission won't rely on them, however; NASA's Mars orbiters will be relaying the spacecraft's data back to Earth.)”

"We've been waiting six months to get to Mars," said Cody Colley, MarCO's mission manager at JPL, in a statement. 

"The cruise phase of the mission is always difficult, so you take all the small wins when they come. Finally seeing the planet is definitely a big win for the team."

An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars mission launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in the dead of night at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 am PDT) May 5, 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Nearly 7 months after liftoff the landing is scheduled for Nov. 26, 2018 at Elysium Planitia at around 3 p.m. EST (noon PST).  The location is about 375 miles away from Gale Crater - where NASA's Curiosity rover landed in 2012. 

MarCO A and B are the first ever interplanetary cubesats launching beyond Earth orbit and towards the Red Planet.  They are technology demonstration experiments.  If they survive the trip they will relay EDL data from InSight as it plummets down to the Red Planet. 

An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft arriving at Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Each of the two briefcase sized MarCO cubesat spacecraft has a mass of 30 pounds (13.5 kilograms).

The MarCO design is a six-unit CubeSat. Each of the two spacecraft has a stowed size of about 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) by 9.5 inches (24.3 centimeters) by 4.6 inches (11.8 centimeters).

They were loaded inside dispensers mounted on the aft bulkhead carrier of the Centaur upper stage, not far from the engine. They were successfully  deployed about 30 minutes after InSight separated from the Centaur, and about 1 minute apart after the stage did a 180 degree roll so they would not collide with one another – roughly 1 hour and 28 minutes after launch. 

If all goes well they could potentially pass the Red Planet at about 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) away just as InSight is landing.

“One could potentially receive transmissions from InSight and relay status information to Earth about the lander's descent and touchdown,” says NASA.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.
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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events