>>Nicky Fox: Many of us here in the U.S. had an opportunity
to witness the first solar eclipse visible here in almost a hundred years.
During the total solar eclipse, you can see the outer hazy atmosphere
around the Sun with the corona and you can see it with your naked eye.
Now, this corona is actually hotter than the surface of the Sun--
over three hundred times hotter.
Now just imagine flying a spacecraft through that region
and taking data at the same time.
Sound like science fiction?
Not anymore.
It's soon to be a reality.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission is about to embark on a historic journey
to our very own star, the Sun.
At the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland,
the spacecraft is currently being built and tested to get ready
for launch in the summer of 2018.
Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living with the Stars program
to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system
that directly affects life and society.
This truly is a mission of extremes.
Hurtling at breath-taking speeds through the Sun's atmosphere,
closer to the surface than any space craft before it, facing brutal heat
and radiation conditions and ultimately providing humanity
with the first ever close-up view of a star.
So, when you check out a solar eclipse and you see that corona,
think Parker Solar Probe and the mission launching soon to touch the Sun.
You can follow the adventure with us at SolarProbe.jhuapl.edu