NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Sends Back Initial Insights On Solar Wind Written 5 December 2019

Reuters reports that “researchers on Wednesday described the first published findings from the Parker Solar Probe, a spacecraft launched in 2018 to journey closer to the sun than any other human-made object.” NASA Heliophysics Science Division Director Nicola Fox said, “We were certainly hoping we’d see new phenomena and new processes when we got close to the sun – and we certainly did.” Fox added, “Some of the information that we found pretty much confirmed what we expected, but some of it is totally unexpected.” The findings challenge “astronomers’ understanding of violent solar wind that can hamper satellites and electronics on Earth.” University of Michigan Professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Justin Kasper said that the findings detail “discrete, powerful waves” that will “dramatically change our theories for how the corona and solar wind are being heated.”
Full Story (Reuters)