Liftoff of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

Liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA's Parker Solar Probe, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018.
Liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. Image credit: NASA TV

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe lifted off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Parker Solar Probe will be the first-ever mission to “touch” the Sun. The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, will travel directly into the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona, about 4 million miles from our star’s surface.

For more on the mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe.