https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Blackfyreexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-27T22:07:13ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2262:_Parker_Solar_Probe&diff=1867852262: Parker Solar Probe2020-01-31T20:43:39Z<p>Blackfyre: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2262<br />
| date = January 31, 2020<br />
| title = Parker Solar Probe<br />
| image = parker_solar_probe.png<br />
| titletext = It will get within 9 or 10 Sun-diameters of the "bottom" (the Sun's surface) which seems pretty far when you put it that way, but from up here on Earth it's practically all the way down.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This is an informative comic meant to represent the relative distances of astronomical objects relative to the Parker Solar Probe. It also shows where the Parker Solar Probe will be in 2025 if its mission continues going according to plan.<br />
<br />
Cueball and Megan are standing on Earth. In this diagram they look like they could fall off Earth toward the sun -- hence the comment "Careful!" -- though of course in real life they would fall toward the center of the Earth, not toward the sun.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Looking Down Toward the Sun<br />
and the<br />
Parker Solar Probe<br />
(distances are to scale,<br />
sizes are NOT to scale)<br />
<br />
Earth<br />
<br />
Venus<br />
<br />
Mercury<br />
<br />
Helios 2<br />
(1976)<br />
<br />
Parker Solar Probe<br />
(today)<br />
<br />
Parker Solar Probe<br />
(2025)<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>Blackfyre