Awards & Nominations

get in, let's drive has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

Parker is living for the hope of it all

High-Level Project Summary

With this project I wanted to approach little kids with their language. I wanted them to feel that the probe is important to science and to people. I decided to tell Parker's story from three different points of views so I could put more details on them. With three perspectives I could also show Parker's journey in different ways, because there are a lot of things we could talk about this mission. Since the challenge was to tell Parker's story on this journey in a creative way, I remembered what Taylor Swift did in folklore telling the story of a love triangle through the perspective of the 3 people in it. I decided to tell Parker's challenges and overcomings through three perspectives too.

Detailed Project Description

The parker solar probe journey by its own perspective


Well, my story starts when it was hot and it was summer end. I was really excited to finally see the sun up close. I heard about it for a long time and the scientists who built me always talked about how they were worried about whether I was going to survive or not. That I will tell you at the end of this.

Before we go into the deep stuff, I feel like I need to let you know properly who I am. My name is Parker because of a friend of mine called Eugene Parker. He was an astrophysicist who really liked to study the sun’s winds. You might be asking: why is this probe so important and what is it doing in outer space? Well, for starters, I’m here because I like outer space… and I felt like coming… and I’m curious, leave me alone. Second, I’m important for several reasons. Humans built and sent me to learn more about the sun and its behavior. They wanted to know about the influence of the sun on the solar system and understanding the sun we understand other stars of the universe that look like him. 

Alright then, let’s get to the good stuff. You might be wondering why I didn’t melt if the sun was so hot. For years you heard about how nothing could ever get close to the sun because it would melt. Well, here I am. First, you need to understand that temperature and heat are two different things. Temperature represents how fast the particles are traveling and heat is the amount of energy that is being given to something, it’s the amount of particles. I’m gonna give you an example so you can see it better. It’s all about density (the amount of stuff in a certain amount of space). Imagine a steam room, the temperature there is about 140°F and a person stays in it undisturbed. But if you put your hand in a pan with water at 140°F you will surely burn yourself. That’s because of the density. In the pan there are a lot of particles in a tiny space, that’s why you would burn your hand (don’t test this at home! Trust science). That’s why my shield works; the particles on the corona of the sun have a low density and they arrive in short amounts. 

When I was launched in the summer of 2018, more precisely on august 12th, my creators had high hopes for me and, if I do say so myself, I did pretty well. I became the first thing ever made by humans to touch the sun, I entered its corona (!!!!). If you haven’t entered the sun’s corona you can’t judge me! I also became the fastest object made by people, I love being me. 

This is pretty much it. Like the song says “At first I was afraid, I was petrified” but it’s okay now, I’m helping humans answer a lot of questions and I broke really important records, I’m happy with myself. Long story short, I survived.



The parker solar probe journey by the Sun’s perspective


In the solar system we have this tradition of always talking to each other about what our residents are up to. Since I can remember, the residents located on Earth (they call themselves humans) were always very curious. Every now and then they send things they build out here in space, I think it’s cool, I love watching it. I heard they see me as a challenge because of my temperature. Well, what can I do? 

Recently they sent a very tiny space object over to explore me. I loved it and got very excited. I have to say I love company and talking. Since it’s just me and Mercury, I only talk to him and sometimes it gets kinda boring. 

I’m going to tell you some things about me. I know you are from Earth so I will tell you what I do to your planet. You must have heard about the northern lights or aurora borealis, they are lights that show up in your sky when I send some winds. But you can only see it in the sky at the poles of the Earth. The winds in question are charged, they have electricity. Your planet has something called a magnetic field, also known as magnetosphere. It's very powerful and it helps protect you. When my wind meets your magnetic field it’s magical; the particles in my wind can collide with some molecules in your upper atmosphere and sometimes they generate some extra energy, which is released as light, it’s beautiful. 

Remember I told you your magnetosphere protects you? Well, you should think about the consequence of your magnetic field being a little too strong. If he wasn’t the way he is, a lot could go wrong for you, so take it as a compliment. He protects you especially from me. There is -a lot- going on at the moment in my atmosphere I should say; explosions, winds being sent, so much radiation, etc. Your magnetic field protects you from all of this, he's a true friend, keep him around.

It was really nice talking about me and about you too. You live on the most beautiful planet of the solar system, I love watching you guys live your lives and how curious you are about what’s going on out here. Just a quick reminder: I haven’t seen a planet this beautiful and rich anywhere so take care of it, he’s unique. 



The parker solar probe journey by Taylah’s perspective


Hello, I’m Taylah. You don’t know me and I’ll make sure when you finish reading this that I will make you forget about me. No one is allowed to know about my existence. I’m the one watching everything, I see everything and everyone. I know if there’s life on other planets and galaxies. I know what’s going on inside a black hole. I know why the big bang happened, I was here before it and I will be here forever. Don’t ask me any questions, I won’t answer. I’m here to talk about Parker, the probe you sent to the sun.

I really enjoy seeing how humans reinvent themselves over and over, how many times they have to. But with this one you really outdid yourselves. I knew you would make it and when, but even so I was astonished. The things you have discovered are pretty cool. You were able to see the wind coming from the sun still rotating, that’s awesome because the more you know about your sun, your beautiful star, the more you know about you and your planet, where you guys came from. I’m excited to see your next discoveries. 

At some point you must have heard about how Venus and Earth are twins. They are almost the same size, have the same structure and are rocky planets, but life is not possible on Venus and that makes people wonder why. I saw Parker was helping you with it. In case you’re asking yourself what Parker was doing in Venus's atmosphere, he was there for a gravity assist. Gravity assist is a brilliant technique humans came up with to slingshot objects across the solar system and in the future across the universe (oops, a tiny spoiler). Quick tip: if you learn why Venus is uninhabitable you discover why the Earth is habitable. 

Therefore, I’m proud of the people on Earth, especially the scientists. You managed to discover a lot with this mission, and I know you will go deeper and deeper, like you should. And to everyone reading this, listen to experts: the planet is in danger. I know you are curious about what happens in outer space, but take a moment to think about your world. The thing about climate change is that the planet can take it, it went through a lot during its lifetime, it’s you people who won’t survive climate change if you keep treating Earth this way. Listen to me, you won’t regret. 

Space Agency Data

For my project I wanted to use especially NASA's data about the Parker probe. There are so many good and clear articles about the probe and I used everything I thought would be good so I could make the story clearly to kids and a young audience in general.

I introduced information about the probe very casually, so the person reading the story could feel like they were having fun and reading something for fun, and not an academic paper or homework. Kids need to see that learning can be fun because it actually can!

When kids read the story I want them to feel like Parker, the Sun and Taylah are talking to them and just engaging in a conversation.

Hackathon Journey

Well, my Hackathon Journey was one of the best things I did this year. I learned so much, not just about my challenge, but about the other challenges too. I loved to feel like I was part of something so big and important, with people (mostly young like me) from all around the world, people who like astronomy, cosmology, arts, engineering, math, physics, just like me.

In my town we don't have the biggest tradition about this stuff, so feeling like there's people out there who do this because they like it is so comforting to me.

I just loved it and I'm so excited to participate next year.

References

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/menu/sun/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/traveling-to-the-sun-why-won-t-parker-solar-probe-melt/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=LkaLfbuB_6E&feature=youtu.be

https://www.nasa.gov/aurora

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-enters-the-solar-atmosphere-for-the-first-time-bringing-new-discoveries

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/five-questions-about-space-weather-and-its-effects-on-earth-answered

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar-probe-sheds-new-light-on-the-sun/

https://blogs.nasa.gov/sunspot/2021/12/10/solar-tour-pit-stop-8-venus/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/Parker-Discovers-Natural-Radio-Emission-in-Venus-Atmosphere

https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/09/19/illuminating-first-light-data-from-parker-solar-probe/

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_(sonda_espacial)#Linha_do_tempo_da_miss%C3%A3o_Parker_Solar_Probe

http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/index.php#Where-Is-PSP

https://www.freepik.com/


Referenced songs:

Swift, Taylor. “Better than revenge” SPEAK NOW, Spotify app, Big Machine Records, 2010.

Gaynor, Gloria. "I Will Survive" LOVE TRACKS, Spotify app, RCA Records, 1978.

Swift, Taylor. "long story short" EVERMORE, Spotify app, Republic Records, 2020.

Swift, Taylor. “Gorgeous” REPUTATION, Spotify app, Big Machine Records, 2017.

Tags

#sun #probe #kids #parkerprobe #corona #getinletsdrive