1 00:00:15,849 --> 00:00:18,351 Welcome to NASA Science Live. 2 00:00:18,351 --> 00:00:20,120 I'm your host, Joy Ng. 3 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,623 And today we will talk to NASA experts about the sun. 4 00:00:23,857 --> 00:00:25,792 The most recent solar storms, 5 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:28,762 and how our Parker Solar Probe mission will make history 6 00:00:28,762 --> 00:00:31,264 with its closest path to the sun. 7 00:00:31,264 --> 00:00:33,767 This is your chance to interact with NASA experts 8 00:00:33,767 --> 00:00:36,236 and have your questions answered in real time. 9 00:00:36,236 --> 00:00:38,371 So be sure to send them in using the hashtag. 10 00:00:38,371 --> 00:00:41,374 Ask NASA in the comments wherever you're watching. 11 00:00:41,775 --> 00:00:43,643 In 2021, 12 00:00:43,643 --> 00:00:46,913 NASA's Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft 13 00:00:46,913 --> 00:00:50,850 to fly through the sun's upper atmosphere, known as the corona. 14 00:00:51,384 --> 00:00:54,354 This was the first time any spacecraft had touched 15 00:00:54,354 --> 00:00:58,525 a star, providing humanity with unprecedented observations. 16 00:00:58,925 --> 00:01:02,996 Visiting the only star we can study up close now, Parker 17 00:01:02,996 --> 00:01:05,999 is about to complete one of its most daring feats yet. 18 00:01:05,999 --> 00:01:10,103 On December 24th, 2024, Parker Solar Probe will fly 19 00:01:10,103 --> 00:01:13,873 just 3.83 million miles above the sun's surface. 20 00:01:14,374 --> 00:01:17,043 If the distance between Earth and the sun was the length 21 00:01:17,043 --> 00:01:20,080 of a football field, Parker would be around four yards 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,116 from the end zone at the closest approach. 23 00:01:23,316 --> 00:01:26,152 The spacecraft will be hustling around the sun at around 24 00:01:26,152 --> 00:01:29,155 430,000mph. 25 00:01:29,589 --> 00:01:32,959 That's fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. 26 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:34,761 in one second. 27 00:01:34,761 --> 00:01:38,631 This makes Parker the fastest human made object in history, 28 00:01:38,932 --> 00:01:41,935 and it's going to be an amazing achievement. 29 00:01:42,068 --> 00:01:43,403 We're keeping an eye on the questions 30 00:01:43,403 --> 00:01:45,371 pouring in online, and we'll bring them straight 31 00:01:45,371 --> 00:01:48,374 to our expert live on air later on in the show. 32 00:01:48,441 --> 00:01:50,944 We also have experts in the comments standing by 33 00:01:50,944 --> 00:01:53,079 to answer you in real time. 34 00:01:53,079 --> 00:01:55,014 So let's jump in. 35 00:01:55,014 --> 00:01:58,485 With us now is Doctor Alex Young who is the associate director 36 00:01:58,485 --> 00:02:01,488 for science communications in NASA heliophysics. 37 00:02:01,554 --> 00:02:05,024 And Doctor Nour Rawafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist 38 00:02:05,291 --> 00:02:08,294 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. 39 00:02:08,428 --> 00:02:09,562 Thank you both for being here. 40 00:02:11,564 --> 00:02:12,398 Thanks for having us. 41 00:02:12,398 --> 00:02:14,400 Thank you for having us. 42 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,737 So can you start by explaining a little bit about your roles? 43 00:02:17,904 --> 00:02:20,507 Alex, why don't you go first? 44 00:02:20,507 --> 00:02:21,774 Yes, I am. 45 00:02:21,774 --> 00:02:23,510 As you mentioned, the associate director 46 00:02:23,510 --> 00:02:25,111 for science communication 47 00:02:25,111 --> 00:02:28,114 in the Heliophysics Division at Goddard Space Flight Center. 48 00:02:28,114 --> 00:02:33,319 I'm also a solar astrophysicist studying activity on the sun. 49 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,322 And many of the aspects that Parker Solar Probe 50 00:02:36,322 --> 00:02:39,292 is now exploring in unique ways. 51 00:02:43,463 --> 00:02:44,364 I'm Nour Rawafi 52 00:02:44,364 --> 00:02:46,366 I'm also a solar astrophysicist 53 00:02:46,366 --> 00:02:48,768 from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. 54 00:02:48,768 --> 00:02:51,204 I am the Parker Solar Probe project scientist, 55 00:02:51,204 --> 00:02:53,540 and my primary role is the integrity 56 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:57,443 of the science of the mission, but also maximizing the science 57 00:02:57,443 --> 00:03:00,446 return of the mission as much as possible. 58 00:03:01,381 --> 00:03:02,081 Thank you both. 59 00:03:02,081 --> 00:03:04,717 So let's get in today's main topic. 60 00:03:04,717 --> 00:03:08,388 Parker Solar Probe I mentioned earlier that it's getting ready 61 00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:11,724 to make its closest approach to the sun ever in history. 62 00:03:12,258 --> 00:03:13,293 Can you explain? 63 00:03:13,293 --> 00:03:16,095 You know, why are we doing this and what do we hope to learn? 64 00:03:18,932 --> 00:03:21,968 A star like our sun is by nature 65 00:03:22,235 --> 00:03:25,238 a very complex and dominant object. 66 00:03:27,473 --> 00:03:28,841 Numerous 67 00:03:28,841 --> 00:03:31,844 phenomena are so mystifying. 68 00:03:31,911 --> 00:03:34,914 And just to give you a couple of examples. 69 00:03:34,914 --> 00:03:38,151 The solar corona that is the outermost layer of the solar 70 00:03:38,418 --> 00:03:41,888 atmosphere is over 300 times hotter than the solar surface. 71 00:03:42,622 --> 00:03:45,225 That is mind boggling. 72 00:03:45,225 --> 00:03:47,894 That boiling gas that is in the solar corona 73 00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:51,297 obviously cannot stay static, and there is a constant flow 74 00:03:51,598 --> 00:03:54,400 of charged particles that we call the solar wind. 75 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,003 It is constantly rising from that region to fill 76 00:03:57,003 --> 00:03:58,705 the whole heliosphere. 77 00:03:58,705 --> 00:04:04,043 And the mystery about it is that the particles rise 78 00:04:04,043 --> 00:04:07,046 from a near static state close to the sun, 79 00:04:07,247 --> 00:04:10,250 to be flying at hundreds of kilometers per second. 80 00:04:10,316 --> 00:04:13,319 And we don't know what do they get the energy from? 81 00:04:13,453 --> 00:04:15,688 And obviously, the sun is a magnetized star. 82 00:04:16,823 --> 00:04:18,091 Every now and then 83 00:04:18,091 --> 00:04:21,427 it tells us the violent side of a star through 84 00:04:21,961 --> 00:04:25,365 big explosions like coronal mass ejections and flares. 85 00:04:25,832 --> 00:04:28,368 Just to give you to put this, 86 00:04:28,368 --> 00:04:32,071 the energy amount that the sun releases in minutes and hours. 87 00:04:32,405 --> 00:04:36,442 One of the strong events can fulfill our energy needs 88 00:04:37,010 --> 00:04:39,045 of the whole currency of civilization, 89 00:04:39,045 --> 00:04:42,915 our current civilization for nearly 40,000 years. 90 00:04:43,683 --> 00:04:47,086 And the sun does that in minutes to hours. 91 00:04:47,754 --> 00:04:51,224 Along with this, this tremendous energy release. 92 00:04:52,025 --> 00:04:53,693 There are particles that get accelerate 93 00:04:53,693 --> 00:04:55,695 to almost the speed of light 94 00:04:55,695 --> 00:04:59,265 and rendering them formidable hazard to humans in space, 95 00:04:59,666 --> 00:05:03,336 to space equipment like the GPS and communications satellites. 96 00:05:03,770 --> 00:05:06,873 And every now and then we see a show here around 97 00:05:06,873 --> 00:05:09,876 us, like Aurora. 98 00:05:09,909 --> 00:05:12,111 But let me tell you this, but this sort of probe 99 00:05:12,111 --> 00:05:14,447 will help us address all these three phenomena, 100 00:05:14,447 --> 00:05:17,216 and that's actually why we primarily build it. 101 00:05:17,216 --> 00:05:19,419 But Parker Solar Probe is way more than that. 102 00:05:19,419 --> 00:05:22,355 It is an exploration mission by excellence. 103 00:05:22,355 --> 00:05:23,323 It is venturing 104 00:05:23,323 --> 00:05:26,326 into a region of space that we never visited before. 105 00:05:27,126 --> 00:05:30,963 And whatever observation we make is a potential discovery. 106 00:05:30,997 --> 00:05:33,633 And that is exactly what we have learned from the data. 107 00:05:35,802 --> 00:05:38,471 So Parker’s closest approach to 108 00:05:38,471 --> 00:05:41,274 The front of the spacecraft will face temperatures 109 00:05:41,274 --> 00:05:45,445 approaching 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1000°C. 110 00:05:45,878 --> 00:05:48,414 But the spacecraft's instruments will. 111 00:05:48,414 --> 00:05:53,486 Behind the shield will be near room temperature at about 85°F. 112 00:05:54,020 --> 00:05:57,023 Can you explain how that's possible? 113 00:05:57,623 --> 00:06:00,893 Yes. So this is one of the aspects of Parker 114 00:06:00,893 --> 00:06:03,196 that makes it an engineering marvel. 115 00:06:03,196 --> 00:06:07,300 And, my colleague Nour here has something really special. 116 00:06:07,633 --> 00:06:11,204 This is a piece of the heat shield that sits 117 00:06:11,204 --> 00:06:13,039 in front of the spacecraft. 118 00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:15,675 It's made of a carbon composite fiber. 119 00:06:15,675 --> 00:06:17,877 And you can see it's fairly thick. 120 00:06:17,877 --> 00:06:22,148 It sits in front and always faces the sun. 121 00:06:22,515 --> 00:06:27,387 And it completely covers the back part of the spacecraft. 122 00:06:27,453 --> 00:06:29,722 It casts a shadow over 123 00:06:29,722 --> 00:06:32,692 the instruments at the back, except for one specific 124 00:06:32,692 --> 00:06:33,760 piece left. 125 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,296 And that is one of the parts that, keeps this, 126 00:06:37,363 --> 00:06:40,633 immense heat from damaging the instruments. 127 00:06:40,967 --> 00:06:44,904 But in addition, engineers have created 128 00:06:44,904 --> 00:06:50,243 a type of radiator that, it's a amazingly uses 129 00:06:50,243 --> 00:06:53,513 only a gallon of distilled water. 130 00:06:53,746 --> 00:06:58,818 And together that with the heat shield allows us to keep enough 131 00:06:58,818 --> 00:07:02,488 heat away or siphon heat off of the spacecraft 132 00:07:02,789 --> 00:07:06,492 to keep that nice, cozy room temperature back where this is 133 00:07:06,526 --> 00:07:08,294 really important. Science instruments are. 134 00:07:10,096 --> 00:07:13,332 Wow. That's incredible that it can be so close to the sun. 135 00:07:13,633 --> 00:07:14,634 Yet we've developed 136 00:07:14,634 --> 00:07:17,770 new technology to maintain a safe operating temperature. 137 00:07:18,337 --> 00:07:20,907 So to celebrate this amazing feat, 138 00:07:20,907 --> 00:07:22,909 we have a challenge for you. 139 00:07:22,909 --> 00:07:25,545 You can join Parker's journey with a digital quest 140 00:07:25,545 --> 00:07:26,813 of your own. 141 00:07:26,813 --> 00:07:31,017 So starting today through December 24th, NASA will post 142 00:07:31,017 --> 00:07:34,420 a daily puzzle on the NASA's on Facebook and X accounts. 143 00:07:34,854 --> 00:07:38,157 Solve these puzzles to find secret NASA web pages 144 00:07:38,157 --> 00:07:42,061 where you can claim your own custom 3.8 digital stickers. 145 00:07:42,495 --> 00:07:44,764 Let's learn more. 146 00:07:44,764 --> 00:07:46,632 NASA's Parker Solar Probe is about 147 00:07:46,632 --> 00:07:49,635 to make history. 148 00:07:49,869 --> 00:07:51,003 On December 24th. 149 00:07:51,003 --> 00:07:52,205 It'll pass within 3.8 150 00:07:52,205 --> 00:07:54,140 million miles of the sun's surface 151 00:07:54,140 --> 00:07:57,210 while traveling faster than any human made object in history. 152 00:07:57,410 --> 00:08:00,213 And we want you to join in on this historic event 153 00:08:01,614 --> 00:08:04,250 each day from December 17th through 24th. 154 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:05,251 We'll hide a prize 155 00:08:05,251 --> 00:08:07,186 on a secret web page and share clues 156 00:08:07,186 --> 00:08:09,789 across social media to help you find it. 157 00:08:09,789 --> 00:08:11,724 Solve the clues to win your prize, 158 00:08:11,724 --> 00:08:14,360 but hurry and you can also claim glory. 159 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,164 Clues drop at noon eastern time each day, and at 9 p.m. 160 00:08:18,164 --> 00:08:20,233 eastern, we'll share the leaderboard showing 161 00:08:20,233 --> 00:08:23,236 who solved that day's puzzles the fastest. 162 00:08:23,269 --> 00:08:25,738 Then, on December 27th, when Parker phones 163 00:08:25,738 --> 00:08:27,507 home for the first time, letting us know 164 00:08:27,507 --> 00:08:29,609 it's survived the sun's intense heat, 165 00:08:29,609 --> 00:08:31,143 we'll release a final leaderboard 166 00:08:31,143 --> 00:08:34,146 showing who solve the puzzles fastest overall. 167 00:08:34,447 --> 00:08:37,450 Are you ready for the 3.8 challenge? 168 00:08:44,423 --> 00:08:47,426 So Alex, Nour, are you ready? 169 00:08:47,493 --> 00:08:48,327 I'm ready. 170 00:08:48,327 --> 00:08:50,396 I just hope that, 171 00:08:50,396 --> 00:08:54,233 I'm not a complete failure at all the puzzles, so I'm. 172 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,470 Well, it's a. Today's puzzle 173 00:08:57,470 --> 00:09:00,506 has been released, so let's show that now. 174 00:09:01,007 --> 00:09:04,877 The goal is to guess what this drawing is showing. 175 00:09:04,944 --> 00:09:07,914 And the answer should be two words. 176 00:09:08,114 --> 00:09:10,650 To find the secret web page, you just have to put the answer 177 00:09:10,650 --> 00:09:16,789 at the end of the URL, which is go.nasa.gov/3.8 underscore. 178 00:09:16,889 --> 00:09:20,693 And then the puzzle answer and the fastest 179 00:09:20,693 --> 00:09:23,863 puzzle solvers can also compete for a space in our leaderboard. 180 00:09:24,564 --> 00:09:27,099 So good luck to everyone. 181 00:09:27,099 --> 00:09:31,604 And clues we posted on a NASA sun, Facebook and X accounts. 182 00:09:33,639 --> 00:09:36,642 So I guess for you, Alex. 183 00:09:37,076 --> 00:09:40,079 Yeah, I think I have a good idea. 184 00:09:41,113 --> 00:09:44,116 If you have a good idea, don't 185 00:09:45,184 --> 00:09:47,453 don't say the answer. Live on air. 186 00:09:47,453 --> 00:09:49,288 But if you can guess, go. 187 00:09:49,288 --> 00:09:52,291 But at the end of that URL you just saw. 188 00:09:52,725 --> 00:09:56,128 Okay, so Parker has a total of three 189 00:09:56,128 --> 00:09:59,532 planned orbits at this record breaking distance from the sun. 190 00:10:00,199 --> 00:10:01,834 So my question to you two is, 191 00:10:01,834 --> 00:10:03,669 you know, are these flybys occurring 192 00:10:03,669 --> 00:10:06,706 during a specific period of activity for the sun? 193 00:10:08,574 --> 00:10:12,812 So, we launched a sort of probe in the summer of 2018. 194 00:10:12,812 --> 00:10:15,982 And back then the sun was at sort of minimum, 195 00:10:15,982 --> 00:10:18,384 the minimum of the solar, solar cycle. 196 00:10:18,384 --> 00:10:20,419 It was very quiet. 197 00:10:20,419 --> 00:10:23,222 And if you think of it, emission that is going close 198 00:10:23,222 --> 00:10:26,225 to a star where the medium is by nature very complex. 199 00:10:26,826 --> 00:10:29,962 It was the best time, the perfect time to have Parker 200 00:10:29,962 --> 00:10:32,064 Solar Probe fly close to the sun. 201 00:10:32,064 --> 00:10:35,034 And the reason for that we will learn about the 202 00:10:35,167 --> 00:10:38,304 the simplest state of the solar corona and the solar wind. 203 00:10:38,904 --> 00:10:42,575 And as the solar activity rises, we will start, 204 00:10:42,875 --> 00:10:44,577 learning about the complexity 205 00:10:44,577 --> 00:10:47,546 that is built up, building up in the system. 206 00:10:47,546 --> 00:10:50,082 And now we find ourselves 207 00:10:50,082 --> 00:10:53,519 so fortunate to be at the solar maximum 208 00:10:53,753 --> 00:10:55,354 when Parker Solar Probe 209 00:10:55,354 --> 00:10:58,357 is hitting the closest approach ever to a star. 210 00:10:58,457 --> 00:11:02,294 And we want the sun to give us the biggest show 211 00:11:02,294 --> 00:11:05,464 it can do, when perhaps Parker Solar Probe is very close to it. 212 00:11:08,334 --> 00:11:11,337 That's fascinating and amazing that the mission 213 00:11:11,337 --> 00:11:14,340 had planned the timing of this with the sun's activity. 214 00:11:14,540 --> 00:11:15,975 So one of the effects of the sun's, 215 00:11:15,975 --> 00:11:17,810 I can actually add one thing. 216 00:11:17,810 --> 00:11:20,780 I can actually add one thing to that. 217 00:11:20,780 --> 00:11:23,115 One of the things that's fantastic about Parker 218 00:11:23,115 --> 00:11:25,418 being such a robust spacecraft and the fact that 219 00:11:25,418 --> 00:11:29,455 we're going to be getting data for many years to come is 220 00:11:29,455 --> 00:11:34,026 we will have Parker over, a solar cycle. 221 00:11:34,026 --> 00:11:37,763 And it is very important for solar science to study 222 00:11:37,763 --> 00:11:41,300 various aspects of the sun, over 223 00:11:41,300 --> 00:11:43,536 both the minimum and the maximum, 224 00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:45,504 as well as the transitions between. 225 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:47,139 So this is really exciting. 226 00:11:47,139 --> 00:11:49,341 That will be able to combine Parker's data 227 00:11:49,341 --> 00:11:53,279 with the huge heliophysics, Observatory, 228 00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:57,383 to have this unique perspective over an entire solar cycle. 229 00:11:58,384 --> 00:12:00,386 So, next, whatever you speak, you 230 00:12:00,386 --> 00:12:02,121 take it, and you're in my mind. 231 00:12:02,121 --> 00:12:05,124 So, let me say. 232 00:12:05,991 --> 00:12:07,526 Let me say this. 233 00:12:07,526 --> 00:12:09,862 After six years, more than six years 234 00:12:09,862 --> 00:12:12,531 of orbiting the sun very closely, 235 00:12:12,531 --> 00:12:15,000 Parker Solar Probe and all the subsystem 236 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,037 are performing way better than we expected. 237 00:12:19,205 --> 00:12:22,208 Also, the NASA the continuation of the mission 238 00:12:22,208 --> 00:12:23,743 is another decision. 239 00:12:23,743 --> 00:12:26,779 As Alex said, Parker Solar Probe is ready to go 240 00:12:26,779 --> 00:12:29,782 for many years to come. 241 00:12:33,519 --> 00:12:34,286 Yeah, it's amazing 242 00:12:34,286 --> 00:12:37,890 that Parker is there right now during the active sun. 243 00:12:37,890 --> 00:12:41,761 And for our viewers, watching one of the 244 00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:43,462 you may have seen some of the visible effects 245 00:12:43,462 --> 00:12:46,298 of the sun on Earth, which is the aurora. 246 00:12:46,298 --> 00:12:49,401 And we've seen a lot of aurora this year, especially 247 00:12:49,401 --> 00:12:52,538 in the lower parts in the US, which is not typical. 248 00:12:53,272 --> 00:12:55,975 So can you explain what is an aurora 249 00:12:55,975 --> 00:12:58,844 and why did it appear in places that it doesn't usually appear? 250 00:13:00,146 --> 00:13:00,412 Yeah. 251 00:13:00,412 --> 00:13:03,682 So, all of this material and magnetic field 252 00:13:03,682 --> 00:13:05,518 in the form of the solar wind 253 00:13:05,518 --> 00:13:08,287 or also the coronal mass ejections, 254 00:13:08,287 --> 00:13:12,625 it comes through space and hits everything 255 00:13:12,625 --> 00:13:14,660 and interacts with everything that's in its way. 256 00:13:14,660 --> 00:13:14,927 And then 257 00:13:14,927 --> 00:13:18,030 when the Earth is in its way, it interacts 258 00:13:18,030 --> 00:13:21,267 with the Earth's magnetic field and jostles it like a bell. 259 00:13:21,534 --> 00:13:25,571 And one of the things that that causes is it causes 260 00:13:25,571 --> 00:13:29,608 particles both from the Earth itself, as well as from the sun, 261 00:13:29,842 --> 00:13:33,779 to stream down the magnetic field 262 00:13:33,779 --> 00:13:38,484 lines of the northern and southern poles of the Earth. 263 00:13:38,784 --> 00:13:42,054 And when that happens, these particles 264 00:13:42,588 --> 00:13:46,025 interact with our atmosphere, which is primarily 265 00:13:46,025 --> 00:13:47,860 oxygen and nitrogen. 266 00:13:47,860 --> 00:13:51,730 And so when these particles with a lot of energy, primarily 267 00:13:51,730 --> 00:13:56,502 electrons, hit, oxygen, they create, 268 00:13:56,502 --> 00:13:58,904 depending on how energetic they are 269 00:13:58,904 --> 00:13:59,638 and where they are 270 00:13:59,638 --> 00:14:01,440 in the atmosphere, they can either create 271 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,609 these beautiful greens 272 00:14:03,609 --> 00:14:06,612 or sometimes these very vibrant reds. 273 00:14:06,779 --> 00:14:12,685 And the nitrogen will create a blue, sometimes the teal. 274 00:14:12,952 --> 00:14:15,421 And together, that is what's giving us 275 00:14:15,421 --> 00:14:19,124 this really amazing rainbow of colors. 276 00:14:19,358 --> 00:14:23,562 That's, producing these this amazing show 277 00:14:23,762 --> 00:14:27,099 and one of the things that's been really special about 278 00:14:27,099 --> 00:14:31,003 this year is we've actually had two solar storms, 279 00:14:31,337 --> 00:14:35,975 that have caused Aurora, here at Earth. 280 00:14:36,008 --> 00:14:38,477 One was in, the beginning of May 281 00:14:38,477 --> 00:14:41,480 and one was in the beginning of October. 282 00:14:41,580 --> 00:14:45,718 And both of those storms caused Aurora to be visible 283 00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:48,654 down to the very bottom of the United States. 284 00:14:48,654 --> 00:14:52,458 But the May storm was an especially strong storm. 285 00:14:52,591 --> 00:14:57,563 In fact, we think it could be 100 to possibly 500 year event. 286 00:14:58,097 --> 00:15:01,200 And that caused Aurora very close 287 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,770 to the, equator, which is extremely unheard of. 288 00:15:05,104 --> 00:15:10,442 And it was a wide event, that millions and millions, 289 00:15:10,442 --> 00:15:13,445 hopefully billions of people were able to see. 290 00:15:13,445 --> 00:15:17,850 And, it may not happen again, but as North said, you know, I'm 291 00:15:17,850 --> 00:15:20,853 hoping the sun, keeps up this activity 292 00:15:20,853 --> 00:15:24,390 gives some excitement to Parker, and maybe we get 293 00:15:24,390 --> 00:15:26,058 a little bit of that excitement here at Earth 294 00:15:26,058 --> 00:15:28,494 and have some more spectacular light shows. 295 00:15:29,962 --> 00:15:31,797 You know, 296 00:15:31,797 --> 00:15:33,399 like a sort of folks is going to make history 297 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:35,167 on Christmas Eve of this year. 298 00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:36,902 And when we talk about that time 299 00:15:36,902 --> 00:15:38,504 around Christmas and the end of the year, 300 00:15:38,504 --> 00:15:40,873 we are talking about gifts and presents, 301 00:15:40,873 --> 00:15:44,043 and I'm hoping that the sun will give us the best gift ever. 302 00:15:44,343 --> 00:15:48,580 That is one of the strongest explosions ever that went back. 303 00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:50,215 A circle is very close to it 304 00:15:50,215 --> 00:15:53,786 that will help us tremendously understand this, this event 305 00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:54,653 and their complexity 306 00:15:54,653 --> 00:15:57,623 and how they affect the medium goes through. 307 00:15:57,756 --> 00:16:01,260 Many times I asked, I was asked about the Carrington event 308 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,930 that happened in 1859 that caused the strongest, 309 00:16:05,931 --> 00:16:08,534 geomagnetic storm in recorded history. 310 00:16:08,534 --> 00:16:12,204 And I'm actually of two mind, two minds about this. 311 00:16:12,738 --> 00:16:15,908 The rational human being in me says, yeah, 312 00:16:15,941 --> 00:16:17,543 that's actually can be very serious. 313 00:16:17,543 --> 00:16:18,610 And let's not hope. 314 00:16:18,610 --> 00:16:21,613 Hope for a hope one happening anytime soon. 315 00:16:21,914 --> 00:16:24,350 But the scientist in me says, you know what? 316 00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:26,618 Let's let's see the show. It's going to be amazing. 317 00:16:27,586 --> 00:16:28,220 Yeah. 318 00:16:28,220 --> 00:16:29,421 And you know, one of the things 319 00:16:29,421 --> 00:16:32,424 that's really spectacular about Parker Solar Probe is, 320 00:16:32,791 --> 00:16:36,395 for example, this May event which created this amazing 321 00:16:36,395 --> 00:16:39,798 aurora, the, eruptions on the sun were not 322 00:16:39,798 --> 00:16:44,336 the strongest ones we've had, and then some, to some degree, 323 00:16:44,503 --> 00:16:47,873 the analysts predicted a smaller, 324 00:16:47,873 --> 00:16:51,443 impact here at Earth, and we were all very much surprised. 325 00:16:52,044 --> 00:16:55,647 And recent, research has shown that part of 326 00:16:55,647 --> 00:16:59,752 that is due to certain aspects of the complexity 327 00:16:59,752 --> 00:17:02,287 of the magnetic field within the CME 328 00:17:02,287 --> 00:17:04,857 and how it wraps through the CME. 329 00:17:04,857 --> 00:17:08,460 And it's very difficult to to measure that. 330 00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:09,061 And right now 331 00:17:09,061 --> 00:17:12,064 we typically can only measure that very close to Earth. 332 00:17:12,498 --> 00:17:17,569 Parker Solar Probe can provide this incredible data 333 00:17:17,569 --> 00:17:21,673 and an incredible detail not just of that magnetic field, 334 00:17:21,673 --> 00:17:25,744 but that magnetic fields shortly after it has left the sun. 335 00:17:25,744 --> 00:17:28,914 And this is such a game changer 336 00:17:29,148 --> 00:17:32,785 to allow us to better understand these solar storms. 337 00:17:33,118 --> 00:17:37,122 And part of the, benefit for that is someday 338 00:17:37,122 --> 00:17:40,292 for us to be able to predict them on the same, 339 00:17:40,626 --> 00:17:44,696 sort of the same scale of, what we do here on Earth. 340 00:17:47,566 --> 00:17:47,866 Yeah. 341 00:17:47,866 --> 00:17:49,068 And for 342 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:50,269 talking about gift giving, 343 00:17:50,269 --> 00:17:52,771 I will have my fingers crossed for more Aurora 344 00:17:52,771 --> 00:17:54,239 over Earth as well. 345 00:17:54,239 --> 00:17:57,009 So for folks who do manage to spot auroras, 346 00:17:57,009 --> 00:18:00,012 is there any way for people to let NASA know? 347 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,183 Yes, citizen science is a fantastic way. 348 00:18:04,183 --> 00:18:06,452 And a colleague of ours, Elizabeth 349 00:18:06,452 --> 00:18:10,089 McDonald, created something back in the previous solar cycle, 350 00:18:10,389 --> 00:18:12,524 called Aurora source. 351 00:18:12,524 --> 00:18:17,296 It allows people to report, their sighting of Aurora, 352 00:18:17,663 --> 00:18:20,666 via Twitter or now called X. 353 00:18:20,966 --> 00:18:23,502 And that information provides very unique data, 354 00:18:23,502 --> 00:18:27,372 which gives us, detail on a much smaller, 355 00:18:27,873 --> 00:18:31,276 smaller spatial scale of where these aurora occur, 356 00:18:31,376 --> 00:18:33,979 which is something we don't actually normally have. 357 00:18:33,979 --> 00:18:36,748 And so it's really an amazing opportunity 358 00:18:36,748 --> 00:18:40,052 for everyone to share in the science 359 00:18:40,052 --> 00:18:43,989 and provide this unique data for NASA, and our colleagues 360 00:18:43,989 --> 00:18:47,226 to sort of understand this really complex, phenomena. 361 00:18:49,128 --> 00:18:51,330 So to learn more, you can visit go 362 00:18:51,330 --> 00:18:54,333 nasa.gov/citizen science. 363 00:18:55,134 --> 00:18:58,036 So we have a lot of questions coming in online. 364 00:18:58,036 --> 00:18:59,471 And remember you can submit yours 365 00:18:59,471 --> 00:19:00,706 by commenting in the stream 366 00:19:00,706 --> 00:19:04,409 wherever you're watching or by using the hashtag ask NASA. 367 00:19:04,943 --> 00:19:07,946 So Alex and Nour let's jump in. 368 00:19:07,946 --> 00:19:12,184 So our first question is from our Figaro on ECS. 369 00:19:12,184 --> 00:19:16,221 And they ask how many minutes or hours of images and data 370 00:19:16,221 --> 00:19:19,224 are we expecting to see? 371 00:19:20,392 --> 00:19:23,061 So, for every orbit, 372 00:19:23,061 --> 00:19:27,399 we bring down hundreds of gigabits of data. 373 00:19:27,399 --> 00:19:28,901 So we have different types of data. 374 00:19:28,901 --> 00:19:31,270 We have the imaging, but we have also the in-situ 375 00:19:31,270 --> 00:19:33,772 that has magnetic fields, magnetic fields, 376 00:19:33,772 --> 00:19:36,575 densities, temperatures, all that data down 377 00:19:36,575 --> 00:19:39,578 that gathers when it is close to the sun. 378 00:19:39,745 --> 00:19:40,679 We have to wait for it 379 00:19:40,679 --> 00:19:42,748 until it is a little bit far away. 380 00:19:42,748 --> 00:19:44,216 Then we can talk to the spacecraft 381 00:19:44,216 --> 00:19:45,284 and bring it down. 382 00:19:45,284 --> 00:19:49,087 So after this encounter that, that we are about to enter, 383 00:19:49,555 --> 00:19:51,390 we have to wait for about three weeks. 384 00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:53,592 That is a little bit after mid-January 385 00:19:53,592 --> 00:19:56,528 when the geometry is favorable for data downlink, 386 00:19:56,528 --> 00:19:58,430 and then we can start talking to the spacecraft 387 00:19:58,430 --> 00:19:59,364 and break the data down. 388 00:20:02,467 --> 00:20:03,669 Fantastic. 389 00:20:03,669 --> 00:20:07,272 So we have a question on Twitch from volcanoes, 390 00:20:07,673 --> 00:20:11,009 and they ask, how fast will the probe be traveling when 391 00:20:11,009 --> 00:20:14,780 it passes that close to the sun due to gravity assist? 392 00:20:16,648 --> 00:20:19,251 Wow. Well, it's it's going to be traveling 393 00:20:19,251 --> 00:20:22,988 approximately 430,000mph. 394 00:20:22,988 --> 00:20:27,893 To give, some perspective, if you were to travel from 395 00:20:28,327 --> 00:20:33,198 Washington to Philadelphia on Parker Solar Probe, 396 00:20:33,198 --> 00:20:36,201 you would make that trip in about a second. 397 00:20:36,602 --> 00:20:39,605 So it's just phenomenal. And 398 00:20:40,272 --> 00:20:42,908 it's it's just an amazing, amazing piece 399 00:20:42,908 --> 00:20:46,144 of, of engineering again, special joy. 400 00:20:46,144 --> 00:20:49,214 And I'm actually dream for bigger distances. 401 00:20:49,214 --> 00:20:52,251 And, you know, I was like, like both of you. 402 00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:56,355 I was born after 16, 1969 when we landed on a Neil 403 00:20:56,355 --> 00:20:58,523 Armstrong and other folks on the moon. 404 00:20:58,523 --> 00:21:02,828 And still, when I see it, it's really it's so, inspiring. 405 00:21:02,828 --> 00:21:04,563 So, you know, it's a huge. 406 00:21:06,064 --> 00:21:08,166 We are dreaming of 407 00:21:08,166 --> 00:21:09,601 landing women for the first time 408 00:21:09,601 --> 00:21:11,303 on the moon by the end of the decade, 409 00:21:11,303 --> 00:21:13,772 and also return men to the moon as well. 410 00:21:13,772 --> 00:21:17,075 So it will take them about 3 to 4 days to get there. 411 00:21:17,843 --> 00:21:20,846 But if you pick a ride on Parker Solar Probe at that speed 412 00:21:20,846 --> 00:21:23,949 when it is very close to the sun, it will take only 413 00:21:23,949 --> 00:21:26,952 about half an hour to get from the Earth to the 414 00:21:27,519 --> 00:21:30,522 what is extremely, extremely fast. 415 00:21:32,257 --> 00:21:33,525 That's incredible. 416 00:21:33,525 --> 00:21:37,496 So we have another question on YouTube from Astrakhan nine. 417 00:21:38,263 --> 00:21:41,266 And the question is how much of the solar corona 418 00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:44,336 heating is magnetic reconnection, 419 00:21:44,503 --> 00:21:47,039 and what other processes contribute to the overall 420 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:50,042 coronal heating. 421 00:21:51,276 --> 00:21:53,178 So magnetic reconnection 422 00:21:53,178 --> 00:21:56,581 plays the big deal into the interior 423 00:21:57,382 --> 00:21:59,985 because magnetic reconnection by nature, it releases, 424 00:22:01,053 --> 00:22:01,753 you know, 425 00:22:01,753 --> 00:22:03,622 energy, magnetic energy to the plasma 426 00:22:03,622 --> 00:22:06,425 in the form of heat, but also speed as well. 427 00:22:06,425 --> 00:22:09,027 But it also creates a lot of, 428 00:22:09,027 --> 00:22:09,394 I mean, 429 00:22:09,394 --> 00:22:10,829 a whole spectrum of weights, 430 00:22:10,829 --> 00:22:13,332 and some of them that we call the alpha waves, 431 00:22:13,332 --> 00:22:16,201 they would propagate very high into the solar corona 432 00:22:16,201 --> 00:22:17,369 in the atmosphere. 433 00:22:17,369 --> 00:22:19,004 Some of that gets reflected. 434 00:22:19,004 --> 00:22:23,241 And when the the two counter propagating waves, couple, 435 00:22:23,608 --> 00:22:26,144 they provide a cascade that will basically 436 00:22:26,144 --> 00:22:28,680 bring the energy toward very, very small scales 437 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,749 where the particle can absorb them 438 00:22:30,749 --> 00:22:32,784 and gets heated and accelerated along the way. 439 00:22:32,784 --> 00:22:33,819 And that's actually 440 00:22:33,819 --> 00:22:35,787 why at least one of the theories 441 00:22:35,787 --> 00:22:36,755 that we are thinking 442 00:22:36,755 --> 00:22:38,523 that is responsible for the heating 443 00:22:38,523 --> 00:22:41,526 and the acceleration of the solar wind, and guess what? 444 00:22:41,793 --> 00:22:44,629 Parker Solar Probe is actually guiding us toward 445 00:22:44,629 --> 00:22:46,865 what might be the solution to that. 446 00:22:46,865 --> 00:22:49,434 And magnetic reconnection is at the center. 447 00:22:52,671 --> 00:22:54,272 Well, I can't wait till that day, 448 00:22:54,272 --> 00:22:56,141 since I know it's a really it's been 449 00:22:56,141 --> 00:22:58,677 one of the biggest mysteries around the sun. 450 00:22:58,677 --> 00:23:00,712 So that's really exciting. 451 00:23:00,712 --> 00:23:05,384 So next, I want to show a video captured by Parker Solar Probe, 452 00:23:05,784 --> 00:23:08,587 in 2022, as Parker was making 453 00:23:08,587 --> 00:23:12,090 its 13th orbit around the sun, it saw a big eruption 454 00:23:12,090 --> 00:23:15,627 known as a coronal mass ejection bursting from the sun. 455 00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:19,898 And not only did we see it, but we could actually hear as well. 456 00:23:20,165 --> 00:23:23,168 So let's take a look and listen. 457 00:23:44,623 --> 00:23:47,526 My question to you two is what are the streaks 458 00:23:47,526 --> 00:23:50,529 we're seeing on screen? 459 00:23:52,531 --> 00:23:53,999 So the sinks we are seeing 460 00:23:53,999 --> 00:23:57,202 there are basically like a sort of probe. 461 00:23:57,202 --> 00:24:00,872 When it is flying in space, it is constantly bombarded by dust. 462 00:24:01,173 --> 00:24:02,541 And whenever you have 463 00:24:02,541 --> 00:24:05,043 a dust particles that are hitting the spacecraft, 464 00:24:05,043 --> 00:24:08,580 it creates debris of spacecraft material that is flying all 465 00:24:08,580 --> 00:24:09,214 over the place. 466 00:24:09,214 --> 00:24:12,217 And the cameras are actually imaging these debris, 467 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:15,220 and they can tell you when we launched the mission, 468 00:24:15,220 --> 00:24:18,123 we were surprised that some of these images, 469 00:24:18,123 --> 00:24:21,460 they are absolutely useless because they are so dominated 470 00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:22,661 by districts. 471 00:24:22,661 --> 00:24:24,896 I mean, you cannot see, you can only see streaks. 472 00:24:24,896 --> 00:24:26,298 And, you know, 473 00:24:26,298 --> 00:24:27,098 we know that we built 474 00:24:27,098 --> 00:24:30,101 a spacecraft and it's returning data that is so exciting. 475 00:24:30,869 --> 00:24:32,437 But we were so worried. 476 00:24:32,437 --> 00:24:35,440 So how long the spacecraft can survive this? 477 00:24:35,607 --> 00:24:39,911 But 66 more than six years after probe is so healthy. 478 00:24:39,911 --> 00:24:41,680 It's doing so well. 479 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,617 And it's really so surprising to be a machine that 480 00:24:46,685 --> 00:24:48,620 outperform even your imagination, 481 00:24:48,620 --> 00:24:50,789 which is fascinating. 482 00:24:50,789 --> 00:24:53,391 Yeah, I'm really glad you showed that, image. 483 00:24:53,391 --> 00:24:54,359 That's one of my favorites. 484 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,862 But the thing that special for me 485 00:24:56,862 --> 00:25:00,532 is actually only recently at a, science conference 486 00:25:00,732 --> 00:25:03,668 when Nour presented it and then another colleague did. 487 00:25:03,668 --> 00:25:07,005 That's the first time I've heard it at that conference. 488 00:25:07,138 --> 00:25:08,406 I had seen the data 489 00:25:08,406 --> 00:25:11,409 and seen the imagery, but I had never heard it before. 490 00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:14,980 And Parker Solar Probe has also provided a lot of other data, 491 00:25:14,980 --> 00:25:17,883 including some of these waves that Nour was talking about, 492 00:25:17,883 --> 00:25:20,819 which we have now use sonification. 493 00:25:20,819 --> 00:25:24,489 And it's it's really amazing not only to see the data, 494 00:25:24,489 --> 00:25:26,691 but to hear it. 495 00:25:26,691 --> 00:25:28,093 It's up 496 00:25:28,093 --> 00:25:30,095 to Parker Solar Probe has been traveling 497 00:25:30,095 --> 00:25:33,098 for about six years to it, to the sun. 498 00:25:33,198 --> 00:25:36,067 What are some other interesting things Parker seen 499 00:25:36,067 --> 00:25:36,801 on its journey? 500 00:25:37,969 --> 00:25:40,272 Like, can I, can I? 501 00:25:40,272 --> 00:25:40,872 Oh, sure. 502 00:25:40,872 --> 00:25:43,642 You know, actually, there's a couple of things. 503 00:25:43,642 --> 00:25:47,245 That particular video is one of them, related to 504 00:25:47,245 --> 00:25:50,448 that, is of is, 505 00:25:50,448 --> 00:25:54,019 some data showing a coronal mass ejection, 506 00:25:54,352 --> 00:25:55,453 which is 507 00:25:55,453 --> 00:25:59,124 passing by the spacecraft, but also clearing out the space, 508 00:25:59,424 --> 00:26:02,794 clearing out all the particles, including the heavy 509 00:26:02,794 --> 00:26:06,197 particles, basically providing a perfect vacuum. 510 00:26:06,197 --> 00:26:09,234 And that's one of my favorite, types of data 511 00:26:09,467 --> 00:26:11,970 and a really an amazing, observation. 512 00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:15,073 And the other one that I'll bring up is Venus. 513 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,945 So, you know, Parker Solar Probe has used Venus on seven flybys 514 00:26:20,111 --> 00:26:23,648 to use the it's used the gravity of gravity assist 515 00:26:23,848 --> 00:26:25,483 to slow the spacecraft down 516 00:26:25,483 --> 00:26:27,252 so they could get closer and closer. 517 00:26:27,252 --> 00:26:29,454 But that was also a unique opportunity 518 00:26:29,454 --> 00:26:32,824 to take data, observing the planet 519 00:26:33,291 --> 00:26:36,628 and the whisper, instruments, which are those very 520 00:26:36,628 --> 00:26:38,496 sensitive cameras with the imagery 521 00:26:38,496 --> 00:26:42,133 you just saw, were able to, for the first time, 522 00:26:42,233 --> 00:26:47,005 see through the, the atmosphere of the planet 523 00:26:47,639 --> 00:26:50,642 to show, features on the surface below 524 00:26:50,809 --> 00:26:53,945 in visible and, near infrared light. 525 00:26:54,312 --> 00:26:57,916 And looking at that next to radar, those particular features 526 00:26:57,916 --> 00:27:01,252 line right up from earlier observations many decades ago. 527 00:27:03,888 --> 00:27:05,256 You know, when we got this 528 00:27:05,256 --> 00:27:08,727 data from Venus that it's really these images are spectacular. 529 00:27:09,027 --> 00:27:11,997 So the program we set up back then is basically 530 00:27:11,997 --> 00:27:13,965 to look for clouds in the atmosphere of Venus. 531 00:27:13,965 --> 00:27:16,735 So and when we saw these dark patches, we thought, 532 00:27:16,735 --> 00:27:18,403 we thought yeah, these are images. 533 00:27:18,403 --> 00:27:19,938 These are images of the clouds. 534 00:27:19,938 --> 00:27:22,407 And we were kind of excited but we were nervous. 535 00:27:22,407 --> 00:27:23,475 We are not Venus people. 536 00:27:23,475 --> 00:27:28,013 So let's only to discover that, Japanese mission Akatsuki 537 00:27:28,613 --> 00:27:31,116 almost have exactly the same image. 538 00:27:31,116 --> 00:27:34,519 That was back even before we launched back from France. 539 00:27:34,519 --> 00:27:36,287 It was kind of disappointing. 540 00:27:36,287 --> 00:27:39,491 And they showed this exactly the same data that that we saw 541 00:27:39,491 --> 00:27:42,494 at, at one of the seminars they gave. 542 00:27:42,794 --> 00:27:45,797 And Tony told the story as I said it. Now. 543 00:27:46,498 --> 00:27:49,367 But the folks who are Venus specialists here at the Johns 544 00:27:49,367 --> 00:27:50,969 Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, 545 00:27:50,969 --> 00:27:53,972 they were so excited about that data set. 546 00:27:54,139 --> 00:27:57,142 And they obviously we gave them the data, they looked into it. 547 00:27:57,409 --> 00:27:58,576 And guess what 548 00:27:58,576 --> 00:28:01,079 they actually learned about the composition of rocks 549 00:28:01,079 --> 00:28:02,247 on the surface of Venus. 550 00:28:03,314 --> 00:28:04,049 And on 551 00:28:04,049 --> 00:28:07,252 top of that, they discovered a new window 552 00:28:07,252 --> 00:28:10,255 to study the, the, the surface of the planet, 553 00:28:11,156 --> 00:28:13,958 like a sort of probe, now holds the shortest wavelength 554 00:28:13,958 --> 00:28:16,094 thermal emission from the surface of Venus. 555 00:28:16,094 --> 00:28:18,096 It's a record previous records. 556 00:28:18,096 --> 00:28:21,800 They there have been about one micron and 1.58 micron. 557 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:22,834 Parker Solar Probe 558 00:28:22,834 --> 00:28:26,805 with this new window holds the record of 0.75 micron. 559 00:28:27,105 --> 00:28:30,108 And the future mission for Venus will actually exploit this 560 00:28:30,742 --> 00:28:32,243 since humans you ask. 561 00:28:32,243 --> 00:28:33,611 And then this is really goes 562 00:28:33,611 --> 00:28:36,614 into the science of the mission and 563 00:28:36,614 --> 00:28:38,950 from orbit one, when Parker Solar Probe 564 00:28:38,950 --> 00:28:41,753 flew close to the sun, 565 00:28:41,753 --> 00:28:43,321 we observed forwards 566 00:28:43,321 --> 00:28:46,324 in the magnetic fields that we call them switchbacks. 567 00:28:46,324 --> 00:28:48,193 Basically, the magnetic field would roll 568 00:28:48,193 --> 00:28:51,429 all the way back to the sun and out again, forming a necessary. 569 00:28:52,664 --> 00:28:55,133 And when we saw them the first time 570 00:28:55,133 --> 00:28:57,602 and it was a Tuesday, and we were supposed to share 571 00:28:57,602 --> 00:29:00,605 that data for the first time with the public on the Thursday 572 00:29:00,872 --> 00:29:02,640 of the geomagnetic geo. 573 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,243 American Geophysical Union. 574 00:29:05,243 --> 00:29:07,345 And for for the first time when we saw it, 575 00:29:07,345 --> 00:29:10,348 we thought, yeah, there is something wrong with this. 576 00:29:10,648 --> 00:29:13,017 And that was a really bad feeling. 577 00:29:13,017 --> 00:29:15,854 You know, we have been waiting for this mission for 60 years. 578 00:29:15,854 --> 00:29:17,956 And if the first thing you get is really a problem 579 00:29:17,956 --> 00:29:19,924 with the instruments, that's pretty bad. 580 00:29:19,924 --> 00:29:22,627 So it took us probably something like 15 minutes 581 00:29:22,627 --> 00:29:26,064 to do some checks on the data and everything. 582 00:29:26,064 --> 00:29:27,065 Check it out. 583 00:29:27,065 --> 00:29:28,767 What we are seeing is something. 584 00:29:28,767 --> 00:29:32,003 Can you and guess what these switchbacks that are 585 00:29:32,003 --> 00:29:35,640 that are that observed in abundance are close to the sun. 586 00:29:36,141 --> 00:29:36,708 They actually 587 00:29:38,610 --> 00:29:41,713 actually guiding us toward understanding 588 00:29:41,946 --> 00:29:44,382 what hits the corona and what's accelerate. 589 00:29:44,382 --> 00:29:46,684 Sort of. Well, it's kind of fascinating. 590 00:29:46,684 --> 00:29:49,687 It's really amazing. 591 00:29:49,821 --> 00:29:52,090 So we have more questions coming up online. 592 00:29:52,090 --> 00:29:55,093 So let's get to more of those now. 593 00:29:55,527 --> 00:29:58,863 So if you are on X, how will the probe act 594 00:29:59,063 --> 00:30:02,100 when sudden, when a sudden coronal mass ejection 595 00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:05,103 or magnetic storm occurs during the flyby. 596 00:30:06,704 --> 00:30:08,339 That's a that's a really great question. 597 00:30:08,339 --> 00:30:10,074 Let me start by saying this one. 598 00:30:10,074 --> 00:30:13,044 Parker Solar Probe is flying close to the sun. 599 00:30:13,044 --> 00:30:15,113 We cannot talk to the spacecraft, 600 00:30:15,113 --> 00:30:18,683 so it has to be 100% autonomous, meaning 601 00:30:18,783 --> 00:30:22,954 it has to deal with any issue that that it might encounter. 602 00:30:23,154 --> 00:30:23,688 And actually, 603 00:30:23,688 --> 00:30:26,357 the autonomy system that is built on the spacecraft 604 00:30:26,357 --> 00:30:29,828 can drive the vehicle for nearly two months 605 00:30:29,828 --> 00:30:32,096 without any intervention from the ground. 606 00:30:32,096 --> 00:30:34,132 And actually, we did that twice already. 607 00:30:35,233 --> 00:30:39,037 Now, Parker Solar Probe is designed to fly through, 608 00:30:39,037 --> 00:30:42,040 this big explosion that I've put in mass ejections. 609 00:30:42,173 --> 00:30:45,176 And actually we flew through dozens of them and, 610 00:30:46,611 --> 00:30:48,246 the one that we showed earlier, 611 00:30:48,246 --> 00:30:50,982 actually, we see a tiny bit of momentum 612 00:30:50,982 --> 00:30:53,484 transfer to the spacecraft, but it it's so low. 613 00:30:53,484 --> 00:30:55,253 And Parker sort of obviously 614 00:30:55,253 --> 00:30:57,288 dealt with it without any issues at all. 615 00:30:57,288 --> 00:31:01,125 So that's why I said earlier the Sun, please do your best. 616 00:31:01,226 --> 00:31:02,126 Give us 617 00:31:02,126 --> 00:31:05,530 give us the strongest event you can do to deal with it. 618 00:31:08,499 --> 00:31:11,603 A lot of viewers are very intrigued that Parker 619 00:31:11,603 --> 00:31:12,136 Solar Probe 620 00:31:12,136 --> 00:31:15,139 can get close to the sun without melting, 621 00:31:15,173 --> 00:31:16,975 and I know we touched on it before, but 622 00:31:16,975 --> 00:31:19,344 can you tell us a little more about the technology 623 00:31:19,344 --> 00:31:22,981 that enables the spacecraft to get so close to our star? 624 00:31:24,682 --> 00:31:25,383 Yeah, why don't you? 625 00:31:25,383 --> 00:31:26,651 You wanted to talk about this. 626 00:31:26,651 --> 00:31:29,153 I, I brought it up earlier, so why don't you go ahead? 627 00:31:29,153 --> 00:31:29,854 Sure. 628 00:31:29,854 --> 00:31:32,523 Obviously, Alex brought brought up the heat 629 00:31:32,523 --> 00:31:33,658 shield earlier, which is? 630 00:31:33,658 --> 00:31:35,059 I have a sample of it here. 631 00:31:35,059 --> 00:31:36,427 So, and the heat 632 00:31:36,427 --> 00:31:39,564 shield is basically what enabled the whole mission. 633 00:31:40,365 --> 00:31:43,468 It's a piece of carbon foam that is four inch 634 00:31:43,468 --> 00:31:44,836 and a half thick. 635 00:31:44,836 --> 00:31:47,872 We have, a ceramic coating on top of it. 636 00:31:47,872 --> 00:31:48,473 It's white 637 00:31:48,473 --> 00:31:51,476 for a good reason, to reflect as much light as possible. 638 00:31:51,809 --> 00:31:54,679 So when we when we designed the heat shield, 639 00:31:54,679 --> 00:31:57,081 we designed it for temperatures that the 640 00:31:57,081 --> 00:32:01,653 to withstand temperature of that any excess of 2500°F. 641 00:32:02,420 --> 00:32:03,922 So I was surprised. 642 00:32:03,922 --> 00:32:05,657 Actually the heat shield is cooler now 643 00:32:05,657 --> 00:32:07,492 and we are expecting only temperature 644 00:32:07,492 --> 00:32:11,229 of about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit when on December 24th, 645 00:32:12,230 --> 00:32:15,366 on the backside of the heat shield, that is for an inch 646 00:32:15,366 --> 00:32:17,001 and a half back, the temperature will. 647 00:32:17,001 --> 00:32:20,738 It would be about 500 degrees, and about a yard later 648 00:32:21,139 --> 00:32:23,808 it's almost room temperature. 649 00:32:23,808 --> 00:32:25,643 And the heat 650 00:32:25,643 --> 00:32:29,447 shield is basically what stands between the probe and the sun. 651 00:32:29,981 --> 00:32:32,183 Everything has to fit within 652 00:32:32,183 --> 00:32:33,985 the shadow cone of the heat shield 653 00:32:33,985 --> 00:32:35,820 and to operate at room temperature, 654 00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:38,656 except a couple of sensors that are electrostatic antenna. 655 00:32:38,656 --> 00:32:41,659 And so, the solar wind instrument, 656 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:44,896 obviously Parker Solar Probe has the right 657 00:32:44,896 --> 00:32:47,899 to wiggle a little bit like any, any spacecraft up there. 658 00:32:48,399 --> 00:32:50,601 But the tolerance for us, it's 659 00:32:50,601 --> 00:32:54,005 only for it's only a small fraction of a degree. 660 00:32:54,639 --> 00:32:57,508 And to maintain the altitude of the spacecraft 661 00:32:57,508 --> 00:33:00,979 we use for subsystems that together have to work together 662 00:33:01,179 --> 00:33:02,513 to keep the spacecraft. 663 00:33:02,513 --> 00:33:05,516 It was looking squarely at the sun. 664 00:33:05,783 --> 00:33:09,520 If we use, momentum wheels, we use thrusters, 665 00:33:10,054 --> 00:33:13,992 we use a single cell, camera that we call them. 666 00:33:13,992 --> 00:33:15,460 Pull them the limp sensors. 667 00:33:15,460 --> 00:33:17,095 I, we come to them in a minute. 668 00:33:17,095 --> 00:33:21,232 And also we have, star trackers that are looking toward the 669 00:33:21,232 --> 00:33:23,668 at the back of the spacecraft, looking at the sky 670 00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:25,503 for the star field, 671 00:33:25,503 --> 00:33:27,805 basically to tell the spacecraft where it is located 672 00:33:28,973 --> 00:33:31,342 for the some of their sensors. 673 00:33:31,342 --> 00:33:34,045 This basically will detect the edge of the sun 674 00:33:34,045 --> 00:33:36,714 whenever Parker Solar Probe deviates a tiny bit. 675 00:33:36,714 --> 00:33:39,517 And this will signal to send the signal to the computer 676 00:33:39,517 --> 00:33:42,520 to start basically correcting the attitude of the spacecraft. 677 00:33:42,754 --> 00:33:45,757 But all these four subsystems have to work together 678 00:33:45,957 --> 00:33:48,893 to, to maintain it, because if we don't do 679 00:33:48,893 --> 00:33:51,896 it, we can lose Parker Solar Probe in no time at all. 680 00:33:51,896 --> 00:33:55,066 The environment is so harsh it is not forgiving at all. 681 00:33:55,733 --> 00:33:59,203 And yeah, so far Parker Solar Probe is really duplicates off. 682 00:34:02,106 --> 00:34:04,308 So Matthew on Facebook asks 683 00:34:04,308 --> 00:34:08,079 how long will it take Parker Solar Probe to complete 684 00:34:08,346 --> 00:34:11,449 the 22nd perihelion or the 22nd orbit around the sun? 685 00:34:14,052 --> 00:34:15,987 Well, we I don't know about to enter 686 00:34:15,987 --> 00:34:17,388 what we call the encounter, 687 00:34:17,388 --> 00:34:19,924 which is the part of the, of the orbit 688 00:34:19,924 --> 00:34:22,927 when Parker Solar Probe is below a quarter of a year, 689 00:34:23,161 --> 00:34:25,630 and it's just a few days from us from that. 690 00:34:25,630 --> 00:34:28,366 It takes about 11 days 691 00:34:28,366 --> 00:34:31,636 to cross the sun from one side to the other side. 692 00:34:32,236 --> 00:34:34,138 But when Parker Solar Probe is very close 693 00:34:34,138 --> 00:34:37,141 to the perihelion, the closest approach to the sun, 694 00:34:37,275 --> 00:34:39,010 it is zipping through longitudes. 695 00:34:39,010 --> 00:34:43,681 It can cover, over 150 degree longitudes in a couple of days, 696 00:34:45,083 --> 00:34:45,550 which is 697 00:34:45,550 --> 00:34:48,553 which is fascinating. It's 698 00:34:48,553 --> 00:34:50,721 that is fascinating. 699 00:34:50,721 --> 00:34:53,691 So Victor Swenson on YouTube asks, 700 00:34:53,691 --> 00:34:56,494 how is the probe protected from gamma rays 701 00:34:56,494 --> 00:34:59,497 and what type of substrate is used on chips? 702 00:35:02,733 --> 00:35:05,603 Go ahead. 703 00:35:05,603 --> 00:35:08,506 One by four of a gamma rays. 704 00:35:08,506 --> 00:35:12,510 And and, the intensity of gamma rays is not really that high. 705 00:35:12,810 --> 00:35:15,613 And we don't have any specific shielding for it, 706 00:35:15,613 --> 00:35:18,282 but we have, enough shielding in the, 707 00:35:18,282 --> 00:35:20,451 in the spacecraft for radiation from the sun 708 00:35:20,451 --> 00:35:23,721 because we want to protect our, our, electronics 709 00:35:24,021 --> 00:35:26,858 and most of the electronics are actually within the bus, 710 00:35:26,858 --> 00:35:29,794 that hexagonal, structure that is 711 00:35:29,794 --> 00:35:32,864 in the back of the heated tool in the back of the spacecraft. 712 00:35:33,231 --> 00:35:36,467 All the electronics are out there within that structure, 713 00:35:36,734 --> 00:35:38,870 and we have enough shielding. 714 00:35:38,870 --> 00:35:41,706 But also when we were designing the spacecraft, 715 00:35:41,706 --> 00:35:44,408 we had to make sure that we don't need to overload 716 00:35:44,408 --> 00:35:46,677 the spacecraft. That becomes too heavy. 717 00:35:46,677 --> 00:35:48,713 So it's really a balance between the two 718 00:35:48,713 --> 00:35:51,249 that the spacecraft is protected 719 00:35:52,884 --> 00:35:56,454 And I could also add that, gamma rays on the sun. 720 00:35:56,454 --> 00:35:59,257 That's something that I, studied, 721 00:35:59,257 --> 00:36:01,292 primarily come from solar flares. 722 00:36:01,292 --> 00:36:04,228 They're not as common. 723 00:36:04,228 --> 00:36:05,563 And we've done a lot of studies 724 00:36:05,563 --> 00:36:08,900 about sort of the background sun and the gamma rays, 725 00:36:08,900 --> 00:36:10,968 for example, that are created in the core. 726 00:36:10,968 --> 00:36:15,540 Never make it out because those are eventually, turned into, 727 00:36:15,540 --> 00:36:20,044 the visible light, photons that we see here on Earth. 728 00:36:20,044 --> 00:36:22,847 So gamma rays are not particularly intense 729 00:36:22,847 --> 00:36:25,783 unless you're sitting right on top of a very large solar flare. 730 00:36:25,783 --> 00:36:28,119 You don't have much to worry about. 731 00:36:28,119 --> 00:36:30,388 Okay? 732 00:36:30,388 --> 00:36:31,722 So a viewer on 733 00:36:31,722 --> 00:36:35,026 Twitch asks, other than shielding, 734 00:36:35,193 --> 00:36:36,460 what are some of the challenges 735 00:36:36,460 --> 00:36:39,797 of navigating in the vacuum of space at temperatures? 736 00:36:39,797 --> 00:36:41,899 Much warmer than a few degrees Kelvin? 737 00:36:44,268 --> 00:36:46,137 So one one thing about 738 00:36:46,137 --> 00:36:49,340 the medium the Parker Solar Probe is flying through, 739 00:36:49,941 --> 00:36:53,144 and it is multi-million degree hot that we know it. 740 00:36:53,144 --> 00:36:55,646 It's it's the corona in the solar wind. 741 00:36:55,646 --> 00:36:57,882 But there is one aspect of it. 742 00:36:57,882 --> 00:36:59,383 It's very tenuous. 743 00:36:59,383 --> 00:37:01,285 The density is so low. 744 00:37:01,285 --> 00:37:05,423 So when Parker is flying through it, the gas itself does 745 00:37:05,423 --> 00:37:08,726 not really transfer that much heat to, to the spacecraft. 746 00:37:09,660 --> 00:37:12,597 So that's why Parker Solar Probe, 747 00:37:12,597 --> 00:37:15,766 we have only to protect it from the, the the radiation 748 00:37:15,766 --> 00:37:17,001 that is coming from the sun. 749 00:37:17,001 --> 00:37:19,303 That's the main, the main, the main reason 750 00:37:19,303 --> 00:37:20,905 we want to protect it. 751 00:37:20,905 --> 00:37:23,474 Obviously. 752 00:37:23,474 --> 00:37:26,611 There is always risk that the spacecraft would 753 00:37:26,611 --> 00:37:27,712 encounter issues 754 00:37:27,712 --> 00:37:30,748 there, and, and we, we have seen it when, when, 755 00:37:30,748 --> 00:37:32,950 when probe is around the sun, 756 00:37:32,950 --> 00:37:34,852 for example, the star trackers, oftentimes 757 00:37:34,852 --> 00:37:36,654 the they turn off, but they turn them. 758 00:37:36,654 --> 00:37:38,756 The autonomy will turn them back on. 759 00:37:38,756 --> 00:37:41,692 So again, we rely on the autonomy system 760 00:37:41,692 --> 00:37:44,462 to guide the spacecraft when we can not talk to it. 761 00:37:44,462 --> 00:37:49,567 It's we we have all sorts of, solution to almost all sorts 762 00:37:49,567 --> 00:37:53,537 of problems that the probe can, can, can, can go through. 763 00:37:53,871 --> 00:37:56,841 And so far everything was was still going fine. 764 00:37:58,509 --> 00:37:59,043 And. Yeah. 765 00:37:59,043 --> 00:38:00,044 And I'll, I'll add to that. 766 00:38:00,044 --> 00:38:02,213 So Norris talking about how tenuous 767 00:38:02,213 --> 00:38:03,648 the corona is, 768 00:38:03,648 --> 00:38:05,483 this is a pretty, interesting thing 769 00:38:05,483 --> 00:38:06,784 that we love to talk about because 770 00:38:06,784 --> 00:38:10,054 it tells us about the difference between temperature and heat. 771 00:38:10,588 --> 00:38:15,326 If you actually were to take a, a cube about a meter cube and, 772 00:38:15,359 --> 00:38:19,463 and fill it with the corona, you would have maybe 773 00:38:19,463 --> 00:38:22,867 just a few particles inside that box. 774 00:38:23,467 --> 00:38:26,304 Moving around now, they're moving super fast, 775 00:38:26,304 --> 00:38:29,206 which is they're moving, to give them a temperature 776 00:38:29,206 --> 00:38:31,375 equivalent of many millions of degrees. 777 00:38:31,375 --> 00:38:34,912 But because there's only a few, there's not enough particles 778 00:38:34,912 --> 00:38:38,416 to really transfer any energy, which is the heat part. 779 00:38:39,350 --> 00:38:41,752 And as he mentioned, it's really the, 780 00:38:41,752 --> 00:38:44,955 the light radiation coming from the sun, 781 00:38:44,955 --> 00:38:48,626 which is so incredibly intense, that we're concerned about. 782 00:38:50,928 --> 00:38:53,297 A lot that I think, you know, 783 00:38:53,297 --> 00:38:55,499 if there is one thing, just a small thing that, 784 00:38:55,499 --> 00:38:58,502 I really want to point out before I forget that. 785 00:38:58,536 --> 00:39:01,605 So, yeah, the focus is, on the sun, our star. 786 00:39:02,073 --> 00:39:04,909 But the phenomena that we are studying here, 787 00:39:04,909 --> 00:39:07,078 they are not unique to the sun. 788 00:39:07,078 --> 00:39:09,447 We see them in billions and billions of stars 789 00:39:09,447 --> 00:39:11,015 out there in the universe. 790 00:39:11,015 --> 00:39:14,251 And basically, by having this close look at that star, 791 00:39:14,552 --> 00:39:17,388 we will also learn about other stars in the universe 792 00:39:17,388 --> 00:39:18,456 and in particular. 793 00:39:18,456 --> 00:39:21,492 Now we are so interested to know if we are alone 794 00:39:21,492 --> 00:39:22,293 in this universe. 795 00:39:22,293 --> 00:39:25,963 Basically, we are looking for, for life elsewhere. 796 00:39:26,297 --> 00:39:30,601 We want to understand how, Earth is really. 797 00:39:30,601 --> 00:39:34,739 So, is it really so special that we are unique or we are? 798 00:39:35,272 --> 00:39:38,709 And also whether the sun, can 799 00:39:39,143 --> 00:39:42,113 I mean, then the sun can enable life elsewhere 800 00:39:42,113 --> 00:39:43,247 in the solar system as well. 801 00:39:43,247 --> 00:39:44,682 That's also another another aspect. 802 00:39:45,750 --> 00:39:45,983 Yeah. 803 00:39:45,983 --> 00:39:48,986 And this is one of the reasons why we study the sun. 804 00:39:49,186 --> 00:39:52,857 The sun is the only star that we can treat as a laboratory. 805 00:39:52,857 --> 00:39:56,360 It's the only star that we can see, in detail, 806 00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:00,264 but we can actually go to and measure it directly. 807 00:40:00,564 --> 00:40:02,800 And that's one of the reasons that I started studying 808 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,803 the sun is it's a laboratory in our solar system 809 00:40:05,836 --> 00:40:08,973 that allows us to learn about all the other stars 810 00:40:08,973 --> 00:40:12,410 in the universe, and how all those stars interact 811 00:40:12,410 --> 00:40:15,780 with the the billions and billions of other planets 812 00:40:16,213 --> 00:40:17,348 that may or may not be 813 00:40:17,348 --> 00:40:20,351 like our own, planets in our solar system. 814 00:40:20,551 --> 00:40:22,453 Exactly. 815 00:40:22,453 --> 00:40:24,588 So Johnny on X asks, 816 00:40:24,588 --> 00:40:27,324 how do you communicate with the probe at its 817 00:40:27,324 --> 00:40:28,692 closest approach to the sun? 818 00:40:30,528 --> 00:40:31,629 Yeah. 819 00:40:31,629 --> 00:40:33,330 When we are very close to the sun. 820 00:40:33,330 --> 00:40:36,333 Actually, we cannot talk to the spacecraft at all. 821 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,470 The spacecraft every now and then talk to us, 822 00:40:39,804 --> 00:40:41,205 and it's so limited. 823 00:40:41,205 --> 00:40:44,675 So, when we are going toward the sun 824 00:40:44,742 --> 00:40:46,744 and and the way in 825 00:40:46,744 --> 00:40:47,545 a certain point, 826 00:40:47,545 --> 00:40:50,548 Parker Solar Probe will send us what we call the beacon tow. 827 00:40:50,714 --> 00:40:53,484 And the beacon tone is really a very limited piece of telemetry 828 00:40:53,484 --> 00:40:56,487 that tells us the overall state of the spacecraft. 829 00:40:57,087 --> 00:41:00,825 And so far we got only green beacon tones, which is basically 830 00:41:00,825 --> 00:41:04,428 a synonym of the spacecraft is a it's nominal, state. 831 00:41:04,595 --> 00:41:07,631 And also on the outside where we get another one. 832 00:41:07,765 --> 00:41:11,035 So for this encounter that is that we are about to enter 833 00:41:11,535 --> 00:41:14,872 on December 22nd, we will get the first beacon tone. 834 00:41:15,706 --> 00:41:19,043 And after the closest approach from December, the night of 835 00:41:19,343 --> 00:41:22,279 December 20th 6 or 27, around midnight, 836 00:41:22,279 --> 00:41:24,381 we will get the other beacon tone. 837 00:41:24,381 --> 00:41:25,549 That's to tell us 838 00:41:25,549 --> 00:41:27,952 how Parker Solar Probe did during this closest approach. 839 00:41:29,119 --> 00:41:30,488 Other than that, when it is 840 00:41:30,488 --> 00:41:32,723 during the encounter, we cannot talk to it at all. 841 00:41:32,723 --> 00:41:34,492 We can not do anything to it at all. 842 00:41:34,492 --> 00:41:37,061 But when it moves far away, then we can. 843 00:41:37,061 --> 00:41:39,263 We have the, the high gain antenna. 844 00:41:39,263 --> 00:41:41,365 We can actually oriented toward Earth. 845 00:41:41,365 --> 00:41:43,901 We can talk to the spacecraft to get data up in, 846 00:41:43,901 --> 00:41:45,202 get data from the spacecraft, 847 00:41:45,202 --> 00:41:48,172 but also upload commands to the spacecraft. 848 00:41:48,873 --> 00:41:52,309 Yeah, that's one of the things that makes, 849 00:41:52,309 --> 00:41:53,210 these kind of missions 850 00:41:53,210 --> 00:41:55,346 not just going around the sun so difficult. 851 00:41:55,346 --> 00:41:59,283 And because it's far away, as they get farther away, also 852 00:41:59,283 --> 00:42:01,552 the signals are weaker and it's made. 853 00:42:01,552 --> 00:42:02,753 It makes it a challenge. 854 00:42:02,753 --> 00:42:06,423 You know, flying space spacecraft is not easy. 855 00:42:06,790 --> 00:42:09,426 And engineers are amazing. 856 00:42:10,694 --> 00:42:13,764 And we are we are really thankful for the, 857 00:42:13,764 --> 00:42:17,535 the DSN folks who are doing an amazing job. 858 00:42:17,935 --> 00:42:20,938 Whenever, I mean, they bring us a lot of data, 859 00:42:21,972 --> 00:42:24,441 I mean, communicating with the spacecraft, but also when, 860 00:42:24,441 --> 00:42:29,179 when there are emergencies, they really step up and provide 861 00:42:29,179 --> 00:42:32,182 provide us the support we need to to deal with them. 862 00:42:32,750 --> 00:42:32,983 Yeah. 863 00:42:32,983 --> 00:42:36,587 The DSM, by the way, it's Deep Space Network, 864 00:42:36,887 --> 00:42:40,791 which is something we use for, you know, really 865 00:42:40,791 --> 00:42:44,795 distant missions like Voyager for New Horizons. 866 00:42:45,129 --> 00:42:47,898 And then some of the other solar missions, like, 867 00:42:47,898 --> 00:42:50,901 stereo is Soho, for example. 868 00:42:50,935 --> 00:42:53,771 Yeah, yeah. 869 00:42:53,771 --> 00:42:57,675 So, I have another question, on X from Christopher Casey, 870 00:42:57,908 --> 00:42:59,843 and Christopher asks, 871 00:42:59,843 --> 00:43:03,447 Will solar wind ever be used to drive space ships? 872 00:43:04,448 --> 00:43:07,084 Oh, oh, that's a good one. 873 00:43:07,084 --> 00:43:09,086 That's a really good way to start. 874 00:43:09,086 --> 00:43:10,387 I'll start with this one. Yeah. 875 00:43:10,387 --> 00:43:14,692 So, well, there are something called solar sails. 876 00:43:15,125 --> 00:43:19,663 So one of the, the, one of the ideas is with solar 877 00:43:19,663 --> 00:43:22,933 sails actually using momentum, 878 00:43:22,933 --> 00:43:25,936 from light or from particles, 879 00:43:26,303 --> 00:43:30,841 but because there are spaces so big and there's so few, 880 00:43:30,908 --> 00:43:33,210 these solar sails to be practical 881 00:43:33,210 --> 00:43:35,379 have to be incredibly big. 882 00:43:35,379 --> 00:43:39,917 Maybe the size of, many, many square kilometers. 883 00:43:40,250 --> 00:43:44,188 But I will say I've, I've actually read some papers 884 00:43:44,188 --> 00:43:48,959 about technology to create a giant solar sail, 885 00:43:49,193 --> 00:43:55,099 to actually, use the solar wind to generate electricity. 886 00:43:55,099 --> 00:43:57,468 Now, it's certainly not something that's practical and, 887 00:43:57,468 --> 00:44:01,305 it for us right now, but it was a really interesting concept. 888 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:04,174 Yeah. 889 00:44:04,174 --> 00:44:04,808 To that point. 890 00:44:04,808 --> 00:44:10,214 And there are certain, companies out there 891 00:44:10,214 --> 00:44:12,983 that are looking for 892 00:44:12,983 --> 00:44:15,352 using harvesting, basically the gusts 893 00:44:15,352 --> 00:44:16,587 that we are flying through, 894 00:44:16,587 --> 00:44:18,255 and in particular, when you're flying 895 00:44:18,255 --> 00:44:21,392 away from the sun to in particular for, 896 00:44:22,292 --> 00:44:24,862 producing nuclear power or things like that. 897 00:44:24,862 --> 00:44:26,930 So, there are ideas like that. 898 00:44:26,930 --> 00:44:29,933 The technology might not be mature for now, 899 00:44:30,067 --> 00:44:31,068 but that's really something 900 00:44:31,068 --> 00:44:34,071 for the future that we have to look at for. 901 00:44:36,006 --> 00:44:38,342 So Jaden on Twitch asks 902 00:44:38,342 --> 00:44:40,010 which of the four instrument suites 903 00:44:40,010 --> 00:44:43,247 will see the most intensive use this perihelion, or will 904 00:44:43,247 --> 00:44:46,250 they all be equally used? 905 00:44:46,383 --> 00:44:47,718 All of them? 906 00:44:47,718 --> 00:44:48,552 Oh, all of them. 907 00:44:48,552 --> 00:44:50,554 I mean, we have 908 00:44:50,554 --> 00:44:53,557 we have the imager that is whisper that is that 909 00:44:53,924 --> 00:44:57,127 that provides us with images like the ones we we saw before. 910 00:44:57,428 --> 00:44:58,729 We have the field suite 911 00:44:58,729 --> 00:45:00,964 that basically measure magnetic fields, electric 912 00:45:00,964 --> 00:45:04,568 fields, densities, waves, fluctuations, radio emissions. 913 00:45:04,902 --> 00:45:08,672 We have the suite, suite with measure of the solar wind 914 00:45:08,672 --> 00:45:12,843 that are electrons, protons and, and helium ionized twice 915 00:45:12,843 --> 00:45:14,111 that we call alphas. 916 00:45:14,111 --> 00:45:18,082 And also we have the ESA's instrument suite that measure 917 00:45:18,082 --> 00:45:20,384 this energetic particles that we talked about earlier. 918 00:45:20,384 --> 00:45:23,320 Get that these are very high energy particles. 919 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:25,089 So all of them would work 920 00:45:25,089 --> 00:45:29,059 together to provide us with basically a picture 921 00:45:29,226 --> 00:45:30,994 for the whole medium we are flying through. 922 00:45:32,362 --> 00:45:32,563 Yeah. 923 00:45:32,563 --> 00:45:33,931 I mean, this is one of the important things 924 00:45:33,931 --> 00:45:36,934 about science missions. 925 00:45:37,735 --> 00:45:41,238 For most of them, you know, when we look at the universe, 926 00:45:41,238 --> 00:45:43,507 we have to look at different, 927 00:45:43,507 --> 00:45:46,510 different particles, different types of light. 928 00:45:46,510 --> 00:45:49,012 We can't just look at a single thing 929 00:45:49,012 --> 00:45:51,315 to get a bigger picture of what's really going on. 930 00:45:51,315 --> 00:45:52,683 And this is especially 931 00:45:52,683 --> 00:45:56,220 the case here for studying this, this very complex region. 932 00:45:56,453 --> 00:45:58,188 We have to have a lot of different types 933 00:45:58,188 --> 00:45:58,822 of information, 934 00:45:58,822 --> 00:46:02,626 and all of those together are pieces of the puzzle. 935 00:46:02,893 --> 00:46:05,662 Otherwise, you know, we're really not we're 936 00:46:05,662 --> 00:46:08,632 really missing out on a whole lot of information. 937 00:46:08,799 --> 00:46:11,034 So let me add to the to this. 938 00:46:11,034 --> 00:46:16,073 We are so lucky to have launched Parker Solar Probe in 2018. 939 00:46:16,540 --> 00:46:17,641 About a year, 940 00:46:17,641 --> 00:46:20,110 a little over a year later, we launched Solar Orbiter, 941 00:46:20,110 --> 00:46:21,912 which is the ESA, NASA mission, 942 00:46:21,912 --> 00:46:25,215 and the year later we also got the largest solar 943 00:46:25,215 --> 00:46:28,218 telescope in Hawaii also started operating. 944 00:46:28,318 --> 00:46:31,622 So these three all together, they form really 945 00:46:31,955 --> 00:46:34,024 probably together they form a golden era 946 00:46:34,024 --> 00:46:37,594 to to study for the physics of to study the sun. 947 00:46:38,028 --> 00:46:40,364 But let me add one thing. 948 00:46:40,364 --> 00:46:44,067 I think it was the third orbit of Parker Solar Probe. 949 00:46:44,334 --> 00:46:48,739 And when I put, an announcement out there basically soliciting 950 00:46:48,739 --> 00:46:52,643 observatories to, to, to volunteer 951 00:46:52,643 --> 00:46:55,312 their time to observe with us when Parker Solar Probe 952 00:46:55,312 --> 00:46:56,914 is flying by the sun. 953 00:46:56,914 --> 00:46:57,881 And my whole back then 954 00:46:57,881 --> 00:46:58,682 was, yeah, 955 00:46:58,682 --> 00:47:02,085 basically we'll have we get a handful of them to observe. 956 00:47:02,085 --> 00:47:03,487 Well guess what? 957 00:47:03,487 --> 00:47:07,491 We got over 50 observatories between space and Earth 958 00:47:08,091 --> 00:47:10,928 that are that volunteered their time to observe with us. 959 00:47:10,928 --> 00:47:14,398 And since then, for every orbit we have this campaign 960 00:47:14,398 --> 00:47:15,499 that is ongoing. 961 00:47:15,499 --> 00:47:18,502 My expectation for the closest approach would break that 962 00:47:18,502 --> 00:47:21,305 record of 50 observatories. I'm hoping for more than that. 963 00:47:24,575 --> 00:47:26,643 So we have an interesting question on Twitch. 964 00:47:26,643 --> 00:47:29,947 What do we hope to learn about other stars in the process 965 00:47:29,947 --> 00:47:32,950 of investigating our own sun? 966 00:47:34,651 --> 00:47:35,552 Again, I'll 967 00:47:35,552 --> 00:47:39,122 I'll start, one of the things that's that's important. 968 00:47:39,323 --> 00:47:43,193 Well, a lot of the aspects of what Parker is 969 00:47:43,193 --> 00:47:46,630 measuring are ubiquitous with other stars. 970 00:47:46,997 --> 00:47:49,199 However, stars vary. 971 00:47:49,199 --> 00:47:52,002 They vary in size, they vary in age. 972 00:47:52,002 --> 00:47:55,172 And so some of the details are very different. 973 00:47:55,472 --> 00:47:59,076 Many stars have, a wind like the solar wind, 974 00:47:59,076 --> 00:48:01,879 we call them stellar winds. There are some that do not. 975 00:48:01,879 --> 00:48:04,882 There are some that have incredibly violent 976 00:48:04,882 --> 00:48:06,350 stellar winds. 977 00:48:06,350 --> 00:48:10,854 But one of the things that I think is for me, me 978 00:48:10,854 --> 00:48:13,924 personally, I think is one of the most critical ideas 979 00:48:13,924 --> 00:48:17,995 is better understanding, magnetic reconnection. 980 00:48:18,395 --> 00:48:22,966 Magnetic reconnection is the way that we know of 981 00:48:22,966 --> 00:48:28,939 that nature is able to convert magnetic fields into energy. 982 00:48:29,106 --> 00:48:32,409 Magnetic fields contain energy, but converting that 983 00:48:32,409 --> 00:48:36,480 into energy, that nature can actually utilize 984 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:39,483 is is is quite difficult and quite complicated. 985 00:48:39,549 --> 00:48:41,785 But it happens all through the universe. 986 00:48:41,785 --> 00:48:44,922 It happens around the Earth and its magnetosphere, 987 00:48:44,955 --> 00:48:49,860 which is, the reason why we launch the, the, 988 00:48:49,860 --> 00:48:52,462 Magnetosphere Multiscale Mission, or Ms.. 989 00:48:52,462 --> 00:48:57,167 It happens at the sun with things like the solar wind, 990 00:48:57,234 --> 00:49:01,505 with things like coronal mass ejections, with solar flares. 991 00:49:01,705 --> 00:49:04,274 But it also happens around black holes. 992 00:49:04,274 --> 00:49:07,277 It happens around, 993 00:49:07,844 --> 00:49:10,180 different star systems that eventually become 994 00:49:10,180 --> 00:49:11,248 types of supernova. 995 00:49:11,248 --> 00:49:13,517 So it's really important. 996 00:49:13,517 --> 00:49:15,953 It happens everywhere on different scales. 997 00:49:15,953 --> 00:49:19,222 And that's one of the reasons that what we're learning 998 00:49:19,222 --> 00:49:23,060 from Parker Solar Probe is so critical for understanding 999 00:49:23,060 --> 00:49:26,063 fundamental physics across the entire universe. 1000 00:49:27,698 --> 00:49:28,198 If I add 1001 00:49:28,198 --> 00:49:31,201 something to that and Alex basically said he thought so. 1002 00:49:32,302 --> 00:49:34,805 I think one of the top questions 1003 00:49:34,805 --> 00:49:37,808 that in the minds of everybody out there, I mean, 1004 00:49:38,775 --> 00:49:41,712 is basically whether we are special 1005 00:49:41,712 --> 00:49:44,715 in the whole universe, whether we are unique, 1006 00:49:44,815 --> 00:49:47,818 and if we are, we are we are not unique. 1007 00:49:48,318 --> 00:49:51,321 How how life can develop around other stars. 1008 00:49:51,455 --> 00:49:55,425 And we have our sun, which is just in our neighborhood here. 1009 00:49:55,826 --> 00:49:57,928 We want to understand how it shapes 1010 00:49:57,928 --> 00:50:01,298 its its, star bubble that we call the heliosphere 1011 00:50:01,798 --> 00:50:06,269 and how it really life on Earth, you know, how did that. 1012 00:50:06,603 --> 00:50:08,105 But more than that, 1013 00:50:08,105 --> 00:50:08,972 we recently 1014 00:50:08,972 --> 00:50:09,706 we we launched in 1015 00:50:09,706 --> 00:50:12,709 another lesson, another mission that is the Europa Clipper 1016 00:50:13,076 --> 00:50:16,313 to study the, Europa moon that is one of the moons 1017 00:50:16,313 --> 00:50:19,616 of, out there that has the potential to, 1018 00:50:19,616 --> 00:50:23,487 to have, an ocean before the, the below the, 1019 00:50:23,487 --> 00:50:26,490 the ice and might it actually might have life. 1020 00:50:26,490 --> 00:50:27,858 And pretty soon 1021 00:50:27,858 --> 00:50:30,861 we will launch another exciting mission, dragonfly. 1022 00:50:31,428 --> 00:50:34,231 It will go to Titan, that is a moon of Saturn. 1023 00:50:34,231 --> 00:50:35,399 And that is going really 1024 00:50:35,399 --> 00:50:37,701 to look at chemistry, to look at different aspects 1025 00:50:37,701 --> 00:50:40,070 that might be relevant to life there. 1026 00:50:40,070 --> 00:50:43,473 Basically, we started looking at signature of life as well. 1027 00:50:43,807 --> 00:50:46,610 So it comes to, at the end, 1028 00:50:46,610 --> 00:50:49,613 how the sun interacts with its planetary system 1029 00:50:50,047 --> 00:50:53,583 and where it, it can potentially kick, kick life, 1030 00:50:53,683 --> 00:50:56,686 kick like the we know we are here on earth. 1031 00:50:56,686 --> 00:50:57,721 We know that's for sure. 1032 00:50:57,721 --> 00:50:59,489 And it's the only place on the universe 1033 00:50:59,489 --> 00:51:01,224 we know that is life and that is us. 1034 00:51:01,224 --> 00:51:04,327 And and, but also we want to understand that spirit. 1035 00:51:04,327 --> 00:51:05,328 And again, 1036 00:51:05,328 --> 00:51:06,997 what we learn from Parker Solar Probe 1037 00:51:06,997 --> 00:51:09,499 and other mission is so critical to achieve the. 1038 00:51:12,903 --> 00:51:15,539 So Rick Weber on X asks, 1039 00:51:15,539 --> 00:51:18,642 what is the most perplexing question about our sun 1040 00:51:18,909 --> 00:51:21,912 that NASA would like to answer through this probe? 1041 00:51:24,081 --> 00:51:27,084 That's a tough that well, so many of them. 1042 00:51:27,250 --> 00:51:29,686 It's not that there is no surface of them. 1043 00:51:29,686 --> 00:51:30,487 You know what? 1044 00:51:30,487 --> 00:51:32,422 I would start with the interior and remove out. 1045 00:51:32,422 --> 00:51:37,127 So if I came to you for a first of all, we have 1046 00:51:37,127 --> 00:51:41,198 absolutely no idea how the core of the sun itself works. 1047 00:51:41,598 --> 00:51:43,133 We know that our thermal 1048 00:51:43,133 --> 00:51:45,335 nuclear reactions that are going there, 1049 00:51:45,335 --> 00:51:46,703 and that's actually what produces 1050 00:51:46,703 --> 00:51:49,706 all the energy that the sun uses to, 1051 00:51:49,773 --> 00:51:52,375 to do everything in the solar system. 1052 00:51:52,375 --> 00:51:54,845 But if you move, above, 1053 00:51:54,845 --> 00:51:56,012 we also know that all 1054 00:51:56,012 --> 00:51:57,781 the magnetic fields that we are talking about, 1055 00:51:57,781 --> 00:52:00,784 they are actually generated in the interior of the sun. 1056 00:52:00,817 --> 00:52:03,587 And the funny thing is that the auto generated 1057 00:52:03,587 --> 00:52:04,754 in a cyclic fashion, 1058 00:52:04,754 --> 00:52:08,725 we have what we call the solar cycle that is 11 years long. 1059 00:52:09,159 --> 00:52:13,563 We go from a period when the sun is pretty quite like 2018, 1060 00:52:13,563 --> 00:52:16,566 when we lost Parker Solar Probe to a maximum, 1061 00:52:16,733 --> 00:52:19,736 when the sun is very active like it is now. 1062 00:52:19,736 --> 00:52:23,140 And when we move again to a period of minimum again. 1063 00:52:23,507 --> 00:52:27,410 And this is not all the sun, every now and then, 1064 00:52:27,410 --> 00:52:30,280 every about 200 years of 300 years, 1065 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:33,950 we go through an extended period of tranquility, like it's like 1066 00:52:33,950 --> 00:52:37,721 the mother minimum that occurred in the 17, 1617 hundreds. 1067 00:52:38,421 --> 00:52:41,725 And when it goes very far right there, it affects it's 1068 00:52:41,725 --> 00:52:44,861 the our environment, for example, really big star 1069 00:52:45,195 --> 00:52:47,898 like the the mini ice ice age that 1070 00:52:47,898 --> 00:52:51,034 occurred in 1645, 17, 15. 1071 00:52:51,268 --> 00:52:54,104 Actually the sun at that time was very, very quiet. 1072 00:52:54,104 --> 00:52:56,907 So this variability of the sun, it's all driven 1073 00:52:56,907 --> 00:52:58,208 by that magnetic field 1074 00:52:58,208 --> 00:53:01,478 that is generating the interior and rises up to the atmosphere 1075 00:53:01,778 --> 00:53:05,148 and do all these phenomena that we we got to understand other. 1076 00:53:06,383 --> 00:53:06,716 Yeah. 1077 00:53:06,716 --> 00:53:10,587 And so this process that, Nour is referring to, 1078 00:53:10,587 --> 00:53:13,590 we call it a solar dynamo. 1079 00:53:13,623 --> 00:53:16,026 And it's a very important physical process. 1080 00:53:16,026 --> 00:53:20,330 In fact, the, the, a magnetic field of the Earth is generated 1081 00:53:20,330 --> 00:53:21,665 in a very similar way. 1082 00:53:21,665 --> 00:53:25,168 The Earth is, has a liquid, a metallic core. 1083 00:53:25,335 --> 00:53:29,439 So any object that's liquid or some sort of, 1084 00:53:29,439 --> 00:53:32,442 substance like the sun is made up of, called a plasma. 1085 00:53:32,642 --> 00:53:36,713 These are have the properties of liquids and solids, 1086 00:53:36,713 --> 00:53:39,616 but they are electromagnetic in nature. 1087 00:53:39,616 --> 00:53:41,952 They respond to electricity, magnetism. 1088 00:53:41,952 --> 00:53:45,488 And when they spin, they don't spin equally. 1089 00:53:45,989 --> 00:53:49,059 Just like the planet Jupiter or Saturn, 1090 00:53:49,292 --> 00:53:51,828 which is makes those striations in it. 1091 00:53:51,828 --> 00:53:55,098 And that causes that produces this magnetic field, 1092 00:53:55,098 --> 00:53:56,399 this dynamo. 1093 00:53:56,399 --> 00:53:58,935 And it's incredibly complicated. 1094 00:53:58,935 --> 00:54:02,806 And right now we have computer models that can 1095 00:54:03,073 --> 00:54:06,610 somewhat produce, what we see with the sun, 1096 00:54:06,743 --> 00:54:10,847 but we can't quite figure out, for example, why is it 11 years? 1097 00:54:10,847 --> 00:54:14,184 Why is it not, you know, 15 years? 1098 00:54:14,384 --> 00:54:16,386 We see these cycles 1099 00:54:16,386 --> 00:54:19,256 on other stars and they have different links. 1100 00:54:19,256 --> 00:54:22,592 So, this is one of the key pieces 1101 00:54:22,592 --> 00:54:26,329 to the sort of fundamental nature of a star of our star 1102 00:54:26,363 --> 00:54:30,300 in particular, that we do not fully understand. 1103 00:54:30,300 --> 00:54:32,068 And we have a long way to go. 1104 00:54:32,068 --> 00:54:36,106 Maybe once we understand it, we might be able to make real, 1105 00:54:36,473 --> 00:54:40,777 robust predictions of the solar cycle. 1106 00:54:40,777 --> 00:54:42,812 You know, the next solar cycle. Will it be big? 1107 00:54:42,812 --> 00:54:44,247 Will it be small? 1108 00:54:44,247 --> 00:54:46,483 Will it be longer or shorter? 1109 00:54:46,483 --> 00:54:48,685 That would be part of the goal of that. 1110 00:54:48,685 --> 00:54:51,688 But this is just a huge outstanding problem. 1111 00:54:52,022 --> 00:54:56,593 That that will probably be one of the biggest discoveries, 1112 00:54:56,593 --> 00:54:59,596 you know, if that is solved in our lifetime. 1113 00:54:59,663 --> 00:55:02,732 And that connects to all of the things that are happening 1114 00:55:03,033 --> 00:55:05,735 at the surface and in the corona, 1115 00:55:05,735 --> 00:55:08,805 which are what we're learning about from Parker Solar Probe. 1116 00:55:10,273 --> 00:55:13,276 So talking about the atmosphere of the sun and the corona, 1117 00:55:13,576 --> 00:55:16,746 we have all this activity that we talk about like flares 1118 00:55:16,746 --> 00:55:17,514 and promotes. 1119 00:55:17,514 --> 00:55:21,051 And by the way, we oftentime we talk only about the big ones, 1120 00:55:21,484 --> 00:55:23,186 but it's really a whole spectrum. 1121 00:55:23,186 --> 00:55:24,654 They occur at all scales 1122 00:55:24,654 --> 00:55:27,657 and even the smaller ones that are extremely important. 1123 00:55:28,358 --> 00:55:30,727 Now, well, 1124 00:55:30,727 --> 00:55:34,597 they are the drivers of space weather and that we, we see here 1125 00:55:34,597 --> 00:55:36,466 on our environment every now and then. 1126 00:55:36,466 --> 00:55:41,905 And we need really to, to aim for, reliable 1127 00:55:41,905 --> 00:55:45,275 predictions of what the sun is about to do at any time, 1128 00:55:47,210 --> 00:55:50,046 space with the our prediction capabilities of space 1129 00:55:50,046 --> 00:55:51,181 weather out of both 1130 00:55:51,181 --> 00:55:55,151 may be 50 years behind the prediction of weather on Earth, 1131 00:55:55,585 --> 00:55:56,753 but we are getting there. 1132 00:55:56,753 --> 00:55:57,954 So at a certain point, 1133 00:55:57,954 --> 00:55:58,822 we will be able 1134 00:55:58,822 --> 00:56:01,825 to predict the space weather like we predict weather. 1135 00:56:02,158 --> 00:56:05,362 But let me say this often times when we talk about 1136 00:56:05,562 --> 00:56:08,932 the solar activity and what it does to our environment, 1137 00:56:09,632 --> 00:56:12,802 we kind of give in giving it, give it a meaning negative 1138 00:56:12,802 --> 00:56:14,738 meaning that it's really hard. 1139 00:56:14,738 --> 00:56:17,273 It is really sad. It is, you know, gloomy. And 1140 00:56:18,408 --> 00:56:19,976 guess what? 1141 00:56:19,976 --> 00:56:23,513 Without that activity, we would not exist. 1142 00:56:25,014 --> 00:56:28,284 That activity is really necessary for life to kick, 1143 00:56:28,385 --> 00:56:31,654 to kick off whenever it has to kick off from the star. 1144 00:56:32,322 --> 00:56:35,392 So in a way, the sun can 1145 00:56:35,392 --> 00:56:38,395 is really our reason to exist, 1146 00:56:38,595 --> 00:56:42,632 but it can also affect us in in, in adverse ways. 1147 00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:46,302 So we have to find a way how to live with it in harmony. 1148 00:56:46,770 --> 00:56:49,239 And the best way is to understand it 1149 00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:50,140 and to understand it 1150 00:56:50,140 --> 00:56:53,143 through missions like Parker Solar Probe. 1151 00:56:53,610 --> 00:56:54,077 All right. 1152 00:56:54,077 --> 00:56:56,279 So we have time for one final question, 1153 00:56:56,279 --> 00:56:57,914 and this is for both of you. 1154 00:56:57,914 --> 00:57:00,350 Can you quickly tell me what advice do you have 1155 00:57:00,350 --> 00:57:01,885 for viewers who might be interested 1156 00:57:01,885 --> 00:57:04,854 in helping NASA study the Sun? 1157 00:57:06,556 --> 00:57:07,190 Well, 1158 00:57:07,190 --> 00:57:10,593 I would say one way to to really help 1159 00:57:10,627 --> 00:57:13,630 Dasa would be to participate in citizen science. 1160 00:57:13,763 --> 00:57:16,733 You know, citizen science, 1161 00:57:16,733 --> 00:57:19,736 we can look at everything from extra, 1162 00:57:19,803 --> 00:57:22,906 you know, extrasolar planets to, 1163 00:57:22,906 --> 00:57:25,909 aurora, to solar flares. 1164 00:57:26,242 --> 00:57:29,512 They're all sorts of different, aspects of Earth 1165 00:57:29,512 --> 00:57:31,281 and space science that NASA studies. 1166 00:57:31,281 --> 00:57:34,184 And there are huge number of citizen science projects. 1167 00:57:34,184 --> 00:57:38,688 All of them provide data that is that is really important 1168 00:57:38,688 --> 00:57:41,691 and in many ways critical for NASA 1169 00:57:41,825 --> 00:57:44,828 and something that we could never get on our own. 1170 00:57:44,894 --> 00:57:47,130 And if you can, if you participate, 1171 00:57:47,130 --> 00:57:51,534 you two will be a scientist and helping us to discover 1172 00:57:51,534 --> 00:57:53,069 and understand the world we live in. 1173 00:57:55,638 --> 00:57:57,874 So to everybody out there, 1174 00:57:57,874 --> 00:58:01,010 and I'm mainly addressing the younger generations 1175 00:58:01,010 --> 00:58:04,280 that are coming from babies all the way to the students. 1176 00:58:05,148 --> 00:58:08,351 If you think that, the Parker Solar Probe is very complex 1177 00:58:08,351 --> 00:58:11,554 or James Webb is very complex, guess what? 1178 00:58:12,121 --> 00:58:15,325 Now we are getting we are looking for missions 1179 00:58:15,325 --> 00:58:17,460 that are we way more complex than that. 1180 00:58:17,460 --> 00:58:20,363 If you think of, for example, for the sun, 1181 00:58:20,363 --> 00:58:23,600 the goal is no longer to launch a single spacecraft. 1182 00:58:23,600 --> 00:58:26,069 We're aiming to launch constellations. 1183 00:58:26,069 --> 00:58:27,737 And when we are talking about constellation, 1184 00:58:27,737 --> 00:58:30,440 I don't know how many birds we are talking about. 1185 00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:33,443 And this is really all up to you to do it. 1186 00:58:33,710 --> 00:58:37,313 So my my advice to everybody out there be, 1187 00:58:38,181 --> 00:58:41,184 be curious, be bold, be adventurous. 1188 00:58:41,451 --> 00:58:42,719 And guess what? 1189 00:58:42,719 --> 00:58:45,722 We don't only need engineers and scientists, 1190 00:58:45,889 --> 00:58:48,358 we need all sorts of, of knowledge. 1191 00:58:48,358 --> 00:58:49,926 We need scientists. 1192 00:58:49,926 --> 00:58:52,362 We need engineers. We need, 1193 00:58:53,429 --> 00:58:54,497 financial people. 1194 00:58:54,497 --> 00:58:58,401 We need lawyers, lawyers, a lawyer, a doctor. 1195 00:58:58,835 --> 00:59:00,336 We need everything. Yeah. 1196 00:59:00,336 --> 00:59:01,404 We need. Yeah. 1197 00:59:01,404 --> 00:59:02,639 You cannot imagine. 1198 00:59:02,639 --> 00:59:05,275 To build a mission so complex. 1199 00:59:05,275 --> 00:59:07,777 You need thousands of people to build it. 1200 00:59:07,777 --> 00:59:08,912 It's not really only 1201 00:59:08,912 --> 00:59:10,580 the couple of us who are speaking here 1202 00:59:10,580 --> 00:59:13,483 who basically, came together and put it together. 1203 00:59:13,483 --> 00:59:14,083 It's really 1204 00:59:14,083 --> 00:59:17,086 take an army to build a mission, like personal property. 1205 00:59:17,453 --> 00:59:17,754 Yeah. 1206 00:59:17,754 --> 00:59:20,657 Every single person is, is really critical. 1207 00:59:20,657 --> 00:59:21,391 And it is. 1208 00:59:21,391 --> 00:59:24,761 It takes a team, and that it will always be that way. 1209 00:59:25,995 --> 00:59:28,331 So yeah, that is great advice. 1210 00:59:28,331 --> 00:59:30,733 Thank you both so much for joining us to discuss 1211 00:59:30,733 --> 00:59:33,770 this incredibly important and interesting topic. 1212 00:59:36,039 --> 00:59:38,875 Thanks for having us. 1213 00:59:38,875 --> 00:59:41,578 And thank you to everyone watching online. 1214 00:59:41,578 --> 00:59:44,347 To stay updated on Sun Science, follow NASA 1215 00:59:44,347 --> 00:59:47,483 Sun Science on Facebook and NASA sun on X. 1216 00:59:47,850 --> 00:59:49,852 We'll be sharing updates on those channels, 1217 00:59:49,852 --> 00:59:53,122 as well as NASA's website about Parker Solar Probe closest 1218 00:59:53,122 --> 00:59:56,125 approach to the sun, so stay tuned. 1219 00:59:56,726 --> 00:59:57,226 Another way 1220 00:59:57,226 --> 00:59:59,262 you can participate in NASA Sun Science 1221 00:59:59,262 --> 01:00:01,197 is through our puzzle quest. 1222 01:00:01,197 --> 01:00:05,535 As we mentioned earlier, today is the start of a 3.8 quest, 1223 01:00:05,535 --> 01:00:06,369 and we're challenging you 1224 01:00:06,369 --> 01:00:09,806 to solve our puzzles as fast as you can to find hidden 1225 01:00:09,806 --> 01:00:13,042 web pages and custom 3.8 digital stickers. 1226 01:00:13,643 --> 01:00:15,812 Thank you so much and see you next time!