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NASA Spacecraft Will Aim Straight for Sun Next Year

by Associated Press

   CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA --

   A [1]NASA spacecraft will aim straight for the sun next year.
   The space agency announced the red-hot mission Wednesday at the
   University of Chicago.
   Scheduled to launch in summer 2018, the Solar Probe Plus will fly
   within 4 million miles of the sun's surface - right into the solar
   atmosphere. It will be subjected to brutal heat and radiation like no
   other man-made structure before.
   The purpose is to study the sun's outer atmosphere and better
   understand how stars like ours work.
   The announcement came during a ceremony honoring astrophysicist Eugene
   Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago.

References

   1. http://www.nasa.gov/