A spacecraft designed to unlock the mysteries of the sun was launched early Sunday in a from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
United Launch Alliance sent the $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe on a voyage that will bring it within 3.8 million miles of the sun at the highest speeds ever attained by a human-made device.
Eugene Parker, the 91-year-old retired University of Chicago physicist after whom the probe was named after, said he was excited after watching his first in-person launch.
"All I can say is, 'wow, we are in for some learning for the next several years,"' he said on NASA TV.
Parker, who first theorized that solar wind existed 60 years ago, said: "It's a whole new phase, and it's going to be fascinating throughout. I'm just waiting for the data now."
Scientists say that data should help them better understand the sun's workings by tracing the flow of its energy, studying the solar corona and exploring the acceleration of solar wind.
Using Venus' gravity to pick up speed, the probe will complete seven flybys in seven years to gradually bring its orbit closer to the sun.
On its closest approach in 2024, the probe will travel at about 430,000 mph.
The spacecraft's heat shield will serve as an umbrella, shading its scientific instruments. Sensors on the spacecraft will make certain the heat shield faces the sun at the right times.
A mission to approach the sun has been on NASA's books since 1958. The trick was making the spacecraft small, compact and light enough to travel at incredible speeds, while surviving the sun's punishing environment and the extreme change in temperature when the spacecraft is out near Venus.
