Parker Solar Probe

The Parker Solar Probe is NASA's groundbreaking mission designed to study the Sun's outer atmosphere and its solar wind. Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe is the closest any spacecraft has ever come to the Sun, and its mission is set to revolutionize our understanding of solar phenomena and the Sun’s role in shaping the solar system. This repository provides resources, information, and tools for those interested in exploring the Parker Solar Probe's mission, its instruments, and the data it collects.

Table of Contents

• About
• Mission Overview
• Key Instruments
• Data Access
• Installation
• Usage
• Contributing
• License
• Acknowledgements

About

The Parker Solar Probe is a historic space mission developed by NASA to investigate the Sun's corona, the outermost layer of its atmosphere. By passing closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, the Parker Solar Probe is collecting unprecedented data to improve our understanding of solar wind, space weather, and other phenomena. This mission has the potential to transform our knowledge of the Sun and its influence on the entire solar system.

Mission Overview

• Launch Date: August 12, 2018
• Spacecraft: Parker Solar Probe
• Launch Vehicle: Delta IV Heavy
• Primary Mission Objective: To gather data from the Sun’s corona and solar wind, improving our understanding of space weather and its effects on Earth and other planetary bodies.
• Closest Approach: The Parker Solar Probe will come within 3.83 million miles of the Sun, far closer than any previous spacecraft.

Key Mission Goals:

1. Trace the flow of energy and understand the structure of the solar corona.
2. Understand the acceleration of the solar wind.
3. Explore the magnetic fields around the Sun.
4. Investigate the origins of solar energetic particles (SEPs).

Key Instruments

The Parker Solar Probe is equipped with a suite of scientific instruments designed to study the Sun’s atmosphere and solar wind in detail.

1. FIELDS

• Measures the electric and magnetic fields surrounding the Sun.

2. WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe)

• Captures images of the solar corona and solar wind.

3. SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons)

• Measures the properties of solar wind particles.

4. ISʘIS (Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun)

• Measures high-energy solar particles such as electrons, protons, and heavier ions.

These instruments work together to provide comprehensive data on the Sun's behavior and the solar wind.

Data Access

Data Release

The Parker Solar Probe mission releases its scientific data through NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS). Data from the mission will be available for free to the public as it is collected and processed.

• PDS Archive
• Parker Solar Probe Mission Data Portal

Data Formats

The data is typically provided in FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) and other standard formats for easy integration with data analysis software.

Installation

To explore the Parker Solar Probe mission data and visualizations, you can install the necessary tools and dependencies using the following commands.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/nasa/parkersolarprobe.git

2. Install dependencies: If you're looking to analyze the data and build visualizations:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Access Data: Follow the instructions on the NASA PDS portal to download and manage data locally.

Usage

After setting up the environment, you can begin exploring the mission data. The tools included in this repository allow you to visualize solar wind speeds, magnetic field variations, solar particle events, and other key aspects of the Sun’s behavior.

Here is a simple example of how to process and visualize Parker Solar Probe's data:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd

# Load data from a CSV file obtained from NASA's PDS
data = pd.read_csv('parkersolarprobe_data.csv')

# Plot solar wind speed vs time
plt.plot(data['Time'], data['Solar Wind Speed'])
plt.xlabel('Time (days)')
plt.ylabel('Solar Wind Speed (km/s)')
plt.title('Solar Wind Speed Over Time')
plt.show()

For more advanced use cases, consult the provided documentation and Jupyter notebooks within the repository for specific analysis workflows.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to enhance the tools and functionalities available for exploring the Parker Solar Probe's data. To contribute:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
3. Submit a pull request with a clear description of your changes.

Code of Conduct

We expect all contributors to follow the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct.

License

This repository is licensed under the MIT License.

Acknowledgements

• The Parker Solar Probe mission is led by NASA's Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
• Special thanks to the teams at NASA, APL, and the various academic institutions involved in the design, launch, and operation of the mission.
• Thanks to the Planetary Data System (PDS) for hosting the scientific data.

For more information about the Parker Solar Probe, visit the official NASA Parker Solar Probe Page.

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Feel free to explore, contribute, and share your findings with the space science community! 🚀🌞