NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was launched into space on Sunday, marking the second attempt to carry the spacecraft, which NASA claims will “touch the sun” one day, into orbit. The probe is set to study the sun’s outer atmosphere as well as the stream of particles known as solar wind, reports The New York Times.
The probe was ferried by one of the most powerful rockets currently available, the Delta IV Heavy rocket, built and operated by United Launch Alliance.
3-2-1… and we have liftoff of Parker #SolarProbe atop @ULAlaunch’s #DeltaIV Heavy rocket. Tune in as we broadcast our mission to “touch” the Sun: https://t.co/T3F4bqeATB pic.twitter.com/Ah4023Vfvn
— NASA (@NASA) August 12, 2018
NASA hops the Parker Solar Probe will expand our understanding of the sun by measuring electrical and magnetic fields, cataloging what makes up solar wind, and photographing the corona, which is the outer atmosphere that is millions of degrees hotter than the sun’s surface.
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