Heatshield Installed on Parker Solar Probe

In the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, technicians and engineers use a crane to install the heat shield on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. The Parker Solar Probe will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson