NASA is finally flying into the sun's atmosphere, and this will be the first ever spacecraft launch to be carried next year. The announcement is expected to be released, Wednesday, and will be available to watch on NASA TV.
The mission will be carried by Solar Probe Plus Spacecraft and its scheduled take-off will be in summer of 2018. This will be the first of NASA's missions to explore the sun at a very close range, wherein the spacecraft will fly 6.4 million kilometres above the sun's surface. Moreover, the temperature of the sun will be burning at 1,400 C.
It can't be denied that the Solar Probe Plus will be the first among the space crafts that will be exposed to the sun's heat and radiation. Should this be successful, the spacecraft will be able to uncover the different zones and layers of the sun.
The mission will explore the sun's outer atmosphere, which will surely provide answers to the mysteries surrounding our galaxy. Once the data are gathered, this will be used to study our space weather events, and how it will impact life on earth.
NASA experts will be expected to join and answer queries during the announcement, including Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate; Nicola Fox, mission project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland; Eugene Parker, a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago; Eric Isaacs, executive vice president for research, innovation and national laboratories at the University of Chicago; and Rocky Kolb, dean of the Division of the Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago.