Sun  ID: 12946

Solar Power: Parker Solar Probe Tests Its Arrays

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe gets its power from the Sun, so the solar arrays that collect energy from our star need to be in perfect working order. This month, members of the mission team tested of the arrays at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, to ensure the system performs as designed and provides power to the spacecraft during its historic mission to the Sun.


Parker Solar Probe is powered by two solar arrays, totaling just under 17 square feet (1.55 square meters) in area. They are mounted to motorized arms that will retract almost all of their surface behind the Thermal Protection System – the heat shield – when the spacecraft is close to the Sun.

 

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Credits

Technical Support:
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Support:
Joy Ng (USRA)

Photographer:
Ed Whitman (Johns Hopkins University/APL)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12946

Mission:
Parker Solar Probe

Keywords:
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Parker Solar Probe
SVS >> Solar Arrays
SVS >> Solar Energy