A3.5 Execution of Parker Solar Probe’s Unprecedented Flight to the Sun and Early Results

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) was launched on August 12, 2018, on its way to enter the solar corona and “touch” the Sun. We utilize enormous planetary gravity assists from 7 repeated Venus flybys via a V7GA trajectory in 24 solar orbits over 7 years, in order to get within 8.86 solar radii from the Sun’s surface. The probe successfully entered the V7GA trajectory and made the first Venus flyby 52 days after launch. Five weeks later it flew by the Sun at a perihelion distance of 0.167 AU, setting new records as the closest craft to the Sun and the fastest manmade object. In this paper, the overall strategy for PSP’s flight execution concerning in-flight trajectory control and re-optimization, orbit determination and navigation, and trajectory correction maneuvers will be presented. The performance of PSP’s launch and initial flight, including the first Venus flyby and first solar encounter, will be reported.

Yanping GUO

Mission Design Section Supervisor, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

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