NASA is about to launch the fastest spacecraft in history in a $1.5-billion attempt to 'touch the sun' for the first time

NASA/JHU/APL

• NASA plans to launch a robot on Sunday that will fly closer to the sun than any mission in history.
• A Saturday launch attempt was delayed due to a technical glitch.
• The Parker Solar Probe will have to travel about 430,000 mph and use a high-tech heat shield to survive the trip.
• The probe is designed to study the sun's ultra-hot outer atmosphere, called the corona, among other mysteries of our star.
• The mission may help scientists predict space weather events that can wreak havoc on Earth.

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NASA is about to launch a $1.5 billion space mission to "touch" the sun and study its atmosphere, solar wind, and other mysteries.

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) is scheduled to rocket toward space on Sunday, August 12. The launch was originally planned for Saturday, but an unspecified technical issue halted that attempt. Meteorologists say there's about a 60% chance the weather will cooperate for Sunday's launch at 3:31 a.m. EDT — though NASA can fly the probe as late as August 23.

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See Also:

• NASA just gave $44 million to 6 private companies — including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin — to develop 'tipping point' space technologies
• NASA is about to 'touch' a star for the first time — here are the hellish conditions the Parker Solar Probe must survive
• NASA is flying a $1.5 billion spacecraft into the sun — here's why

SEE ALSO: NASA's $1 billion Jupiter probe has taken more stunning new images of the gas giant

DON'T MISS: Here are the places on Earth that face the most risk from a 100-year solar superstorm

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