The spacecraft will get seven times closer to the sun than any probe ever has.
Parker solar probe pictures of the sun.
It will approach to within 9 86 solar radii 6 9 million km or 4 3 million miles from the center of the sun and by 2025 will travel at closest approach as fast as 690 000 km h.
12 2018 parker solar probe will provide new data on solar activity and make critical contributions to our ability to forecast major space weather events that impact life on earth.
See images of nasa s parker solar probe mission which the agency plans to launch in july 2018.
Since that fiery early morning liftoff with the mission s namesake eugene parker in attendance the probe has made.
The spacecraft about the size of a small car will travel directly into the sun s atmosphere about 4 million miles from our star s surface.
In 2018 the parker solar probe was still under construction in a clean room near kennedy space center.
Parker solar probe will swoop to within 4 million miles of the sun s surface facing heat and radiation like no spacecraft before it.
Nasa s parker solar probe launched a year ago on a mission to touch the sun.
The parker solar probe abbreviated psp.