How was the Parker Solar Probe designed to withstand the extreme heat from the Sun? What instruments and spacecraft design have made this mission possible?
The Parker Solar Probe was designed to withstand the extreme heat from the Sun by using a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite shield. This shield is designed to keep the spacecraft and its instruments at a comfortable temperature of about 85 degrees Fahrenheit while the outside of the shield reaches temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The spacecraft also has a special thermal control system that helps to keep the spacecraft and its instruments cool.
The spacecraft design and instruments that have made this mission possible include a suite of instruments to measure the electric and magnetic fields, plasma, and energetic particles of the Sun. These instruments include the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) instrument, the Fields Experiment (FIELDS), the Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR), the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun (IS☉IS), and the Solar Probe Cup (SPC). The spacecraft also has a Radio Science Receiver (RSR) to measure the solar wind and the Solar Probe Analyzer (SPA) to measure the composition of the solar wind.