By boldly going where no spacecraft has gone before, the Parker Solar Probe will attempt to solve big mysteries about our nearest star.
FOR NEARLY FIVE billion years, the sun has been ready for its close-up—and NASA is now at last on its way to reach out and brush the face of our home star.
After a few delays, the Parker Solar Probe launched at 3:31 a.m. ET on August 12, riding a ULA Delta IV rocket on a path toward solar orbit. Equipped with four instrument suites, the probe is—of course—solar-powered, and will be drinking in the energy of the star it’s studying over the course of its seven-year journey.
Its mission? To solve some of the stubbornly persistent mysteries about the sun by getting closer than ever before.