Saturday, August 11, 2018

Watch a spacecraft get blasted to the Sun tomorrow morning

Early Saturday morning, the United Launch Alliance will send up its most powerful rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, along with a spacecraft bound for the Sun. On top of the rocket is NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, embarking on the first ever mission into the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. Thanks to a big lift from the Delta IV, the Parker Solar Probe will get closer to the Sun than any human-made vehicle has been before — a mere 4 million miles away.

Getting to the Sun is actually super difficult. That’s because the Earth is moving sideways relative to the Sun at about 67,000 miles per hour, according to NASA. In order to journey to the center of the Solar System, the Parker Solar Probe will basically have to cancel out that speed by...

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