THULab/parker_solar_probe_encounters

Parker Solar Probe Encounter Timeline (TsFile)

Apache TsFile version of juliensimon/parker-solar-probe-encounters.

Overview

Complete mission timeline for NASA's Parker Solar Probe — the first spacecraft to "touch" the Sun's corona and the fastest human-made object ever built. Compiled from JHU APL mission documents and the Fox et al. 2016 mission design paper (Space Sci. Rev. 204), with perihelion epochs cross-checked against JPL Horizons (object id -96).

• Tables: parker_solar_probe_encounters
• Rows: 31 across 1 TsFile table(s).
  • parker_solar_probe_encounters: 31 rows, 2018-10-03 08:44:00 → 2025-06-19 09:31:00 (UTC)

Schema (TsFile structure)

parker_solar_probe_encounters.tsfile

• Time (INT64, milliseconds) — the source event_datetime_utc timestamp as INT64 milliseconds.
• TAG: none — the table is a single device / single series.
• FIELD (12): event_type (string), sequence_number (int64), event_label (string), event_year (int64), perihelion_distance_rsun (double), perihelion_distance_million_km (double), perihelion_distance_au (double), perihelion_speed_kms (double), venus_flyby_altitude_km (double), venus_flyby_direction (string), mission_phase (string), preceding_venus_flyby (string)

Conversion notes

• One TsFile (parker_solar_probe_encounters.tsfile) holding the Parker Solar Probe encounter catalogue; one row per catalogued event, single device (no TAG).
• Time is the source event_datetime_utc timestamp as INT64 milliseconds.
• All source columns are kept; no column is dropped.
• Not converted: banner.jpg — image asset, not time series; not downloaded.

Usage

Install the Apache TsFile Python SDK (pip install tsfile) and read a converted file:

from pathlib import Path
from tsfile import TsFileReader

path = Path("parker_solar_probe_encounters.tsfile")
with TsFileReader(str(path)) as reader:
    schemas = reader.get_all_table_schemas()
    print("tables:", list(schemas))
    table_name = next(iter(schemas))
    table = schemas[table_name]
    columns = [column.get_column_name() for column in table.get_columns()]
    print("columns:", columns)
    field_names = [
        column.get_column_name()
        for column in table.get_columns()
        if column.get_column_name() not in {"Time", "time"}
    ]
    if field_names:
        with reader.query_table(table_name, field_names[:3], batch_size=1024) as result:
            batch = result.read_arrow_batch()
            if batch is not None:
                print(batch.to_pandas().head())

Source & license

• Original dataset: juliensimon/parker-solar-probe-encounters
• Source card title / publisher: Parker Solar Probe Encounter Timeline
• License: cc-by-4.0 (as declared by the original dataset).