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NASA's Parker Solar Probe is on a mission to 'touch the sun'

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Making sense of the sun

NASA hopes the Parker Solar Probe will help solve the most perplexing mysteries of the sun. Astrophysicist Nour Rawafi explains the spacecraft's mission to "touch the sun" on Christmas Eve 2024.

About Nour Rawafi

Nour Rawafi is a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the project scientist for NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which is currently on a mission to "touch the sun." Rawafi has conducted groundbreaking research at institutions across the world, authored and co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and meeting proceedings, and holds memberships in the International Academy of Astronautics, the American Geophysical Union, the American Astronomical Society and more.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.

Web Resources

Related TED Bio: Nour Rawafi

Related TED Talk: The marvels and mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope

Related TED Talk: Lessons from a solar storm chaser

Related NPR Links

Morning Edition: Why the solar industry is working to repair its reputation

Planet Money: Rooftop solar's dark side

Climate: When will greenhouse gas emissions finally peak? Could be soon

Copyright 2024 NPR

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.
Katie Monteleone is a producer for TED Radio Hour. She started out as an intern for the show in January 2019. After her internship, Monteleone began producing for Life Kit before returning to the TED Radio Hour team in October 2019 as a full-time producer.