UNITED STATES: Space agency launches mission to ”touch the Sun”

 US space agency Nasa has launched its mission to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before. The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history. Its data promises to crack longstanding mysteries about the Sun’s behaviour.  It is […]

 US space agency Nasa has launched its mission to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before.

The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history. Its data promises to crack longstanding mysteries about the Sun’s behaviour. 

It is the first space craft to be named after a living person – astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958. The Delta-IV Heavy rocket – which was carrying the probe – launched at 03:31 local time (07:31 GMT). 

It came after a failed attempt the previous day, when a last-minute alarm caused the agency to miss its 65-minute weather window.  Just under an hour after the launch, Nasa confirmed that the spacecraft had successfully separated and the probe had been released into space.