Parker Solar Probe by the Helios 2 spacecraft. The "Parker Solar Probe" concept originates from a predecessor "Solar Orbiter" project conceived in the 1990s. Similar in design and objectives, the "Solar Probe" mission served as one of the centerpieces of the eponymous Outer Planet/Solar Probe (OPSP) program formulated by NASA. The first three missions of the program were planned to be: the "Solar Orbiter", the Pluto and Kuiper belt reconnaissance mission "Pluto Kuiper Express", and the "Europa Orbiter" astrobiology mission focused on Europa. The original "Solar Probe" design used a gravity assist from Jupiter to enter a polar orbit which dropped almost directly
Akaa Solar System Scale Model man-made spacecraft) and the concrete pillar representing its location is at the center of the neighbouring town Viiala, approximately 7 km away from the Sun. The speed of light in the scale model is exactly 10 cm/second, so walking the 50-meter distance from the Earth to Sun "at light speed" takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds. In 2018 scale model of Proxima Centauri -star was added to Akaa Solar System Scale Model. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star and the nearest star to our Solar System. It is located 4.24 light-years away and in the model's scale it has