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    NASA Plans To Launch A Probe Next Year To 'Touch The Sun'

    The small spacecraft is set to hurtle toward the sun at about 450,000 miles per hour. Scientists hope it will clear up some big mysteries, such as why the sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface.
    by Rae Ellen Bichell May 31, 2017 2 minutes
    An artist's rendering of the newly named Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun.

    It's a mission that's been in the works for nearly 60 years. NASA says it will launch a spacecraft in 2018 to "touch the sun," sending it closer to the star's surface than ever before.

    The spacecraft is small – its instruments would fit into a refrigerator — but it's built to withstand temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees

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