Launch Parker Solar Probe day postponed

cape canaveral - The launch of the Parker Solar Probe space probe was canceled on Saturday at the last minute. In the preparations, irregularities were found in the data of the launcher. On Sunday NASA will try again to launch the probe. The scheduled time is 9.31 am (Dutch time).

The Parker Solar Probe will conduct research into the sun and the solar wind. The Parker is built to withstand temperatures of 1400 degrees Celsius. The radiation at the destination is about 500 times as fierce as the earth. A special shield must protect the probe against it.

The probe will run oval orbits around the sun for the next seven years. At the closest point, the Parker is 6 million kilometers away from the sun. The Parker is named after the now 91-year-old scientist Eugene N. Parker who developed the concept of the solar wind in the 1950s.