Humanity’s first flight to sun in July: NASA
Context
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe — humanity’s first mission to the Sun — is undergoing final preparations for its launch scheduled for July 31
Launch by: Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle
Launched from: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Objective of the mission
- It will orbit directly through the solar atmosphere — the corona — closer to the surface than any human-made object has ever gone
- While facing brutal heat and radiation, the mission will reveal fundamental science behind what drives the solar wind, the constant outpouring of material from the Sun that shapes planetary atmospheres and affects space weather near Earth
