NASA will launch their first mission to the sun in 2018, the space agency announced Wednesday morning.
The spacecraft, the Parker Solar Probe named in honour of astrophysicist Eugene Parker, is scheduled to launch during a 20-day window that opens July 31, 2018.
鈥淭he solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before,鈥 said Parker. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting that we鈥檒l finally get a look. One would like to have some more detailed measurements of what鈥檚 going on in the solar wind. I鈥檓 sure that there will be some surprises. There always are.鈥
We've renamed our first mission to touch the sun as the Parker Solar Probe in honor of astrophysicist Eugene Parker:
鈥 NASA (@NASA)