Description
Parker Solar Probe was launched nearly 7 years ago and within a few months became the first spacecraft to study the inner heliosphere twice as close to the Sun than ever before. Each year, PSP’s perihelion has been moving closer to the Sun, last year reaching a distance of less than 10 solar radii, nearly 7 times closer than any other spacecraft. An important milestone was reached in 2021 when PSP crossed the Alfven surface allowing the sub-Alfvenic flow to be measured for the first time, and revealing how this evolves into the super-Alfvenic solar wind. In this talk, a selection of results from PSP will be reviewed, focussing on the broader picture of what we have learnt given that we are now nearing the end of the prime mission. Particular themes will involve the nature of fundamental plasma processes in the near-Sun environment, the connection between those processes and the structure/sources of the solar wind, the role they play in shaping and interacting with the large-scale properties, understanding the evolution from the sub-Alfvenic flow into the heliosphere, and progress towards key mission goals, such as understanding solar wind heating and acceleration. New questions that have arisen will also be highlighted, along with future work that will be needed to answer them.
