NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Aims to Fly Closer to the Sun Like Never Before

An artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP

NEW YORK—A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun’s corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.