What you need to know about NASA's mission to touch the sun
UPDATE 2: The Parker Solar Probe launched as planned at 3:31 a.m. ET on Sunday morning, and NASA celebrated the start of the probe's voyage with video and photos of the successful launch.
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UPDATE 1: The planned Saturday launch of the Parker Solar Probe has been delayed, with the updated launch now scheduled for 3:31 a.m. ET on Sunday.
"The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft was scrubbed today due to a violation of a launch limit, resulting in a hold," an update on NASA's website read. "There was not enough time remaining in the window to recycle."
"The launch is planned for Sunday, Aug. 12 from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The forecast shows a 60 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for launch. The launch time is 3:31 a.m. EDT."
ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:
A NASA probe is about to launch on a mission to the sun in the name of protecting the Earth.
On Saturday, the space agency's Parker Solar Probe is expected to launch to orbit, beginning its long and winding journey that will eventually allow humanity to touch our nearest star for the first time.
The probe is expected to take flight atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket at 3:33 a.m. ET on Saturday, ironically launching to the sun in the dead of night from Cape Canaveral Florida.
If you happen to be awake, you can watch the launch in the window below via NASA TV:
After launch, the spacecraft will head toward the sun's atmosphere, known as the solar corona, made up of super hot plasma.
"The solar corona is one of the last places in the solar system where no spacecraft has visited before," Parker Solar Probe scientist Adam Szabo said in a statement. "It gives me the sense of excitement of an explorer."
And explore it will.
The car-sized spacecraft will fly as fast as 430,000 miles per hour, making it the fastest human-made spacecraft ever, according to NASA. The probe will use Venus' gravity to slow itself down as it makes its close approaches with the sun.
Over the course of about seven years, the spacecraft will orbit the sun about 24 times, eventually flying just 3.8 million miles above the star's surface at its closest point. (For reference, the Earth orbits the sun at a distance of about 93 million miles on average.)
During its years in space, the Parker is expected to reveal never-before-seen aspects of the sun's atmosphere and the star as a whole.
“We’ll be going where no spacecraft has dared go before — within the corona of a star,” project scientist Nicky Fox said in a statement.
“With each orbit, we’ll be seeing new regions of the sun’s atmosphere and learning things about stellar mechanics that we’ve wanted to explore for decades.”
The spacecraft is named for Eugene Parker, the scientist who first predicted the existence of the solar wind -- fast-moving solar particles that stream through the entire solar system.
Solar wind can create a whole host of issues for humans -- from messing with GPS communications to exposing astronauts in space to high radiation -- and the Parker Solar Probe is launching on a mission to figure out where it comes from.
Data gathered by the probe is also expected to help us learn more about space weather in general. If we're able to learn more about its origin and behavior, it might be possible to predict when space weather might occur.
"The solar wind also fills up much of the solar system, dominating the space environment far past Earth," NASA said.
"As we send spacecraft and astronauts further and further from home, we must understand this space environment just as early seafarers needed to understand the ocean."
Scientists have had to take great care to make sure that the Parker Solar Probe doesn't burn up in the process of conducting its important science.
The craft comes equipped with a thick shield made of carbon composite foam and carbon fiber. That shield should absorb the extreme heat of the sun, heating up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and keeping the spacecraft and its sensitive instruments at 85 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA.
UPDATED Aug. 11, 2018, 9:46 a.m. ET with news of the launch delay.
UPDATED Aug. 12, 2018, 9:37 a.m. ET with confirmation that the rescheduled Sunday launch was a success.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
