Nasa successfully launches Sun-touching Parker solar probe from Florida
Nasa has successfully launched a mission to send a satellite to "touch the Sun".
The US space agency this morning launched the Parker solar probe satellite at 03:31 local time, or 07:31 GMT, from Cape Canaveral air force station in Florida.
The spacecraft was named after living astrophysicist 91-year-old Eugene Parker, who explored solar wind in 1958.
Nasa said the Parker solar probe will "travel closer to the Sun, deeper into the solar atmosphere, than any mission before it".
“Eight long years of hard work by countless engineers and scientists is finally paying off,” said Adam Szabo, the mission scientist for Parker solar probe at Nasa’s Goddard space flight centre in Maryland.
3-2-1… and we have liftoff of Parker #SolarProbe atop @ULAlaunch’s #DeltaIV Heavy rocket. Tune in as we broadcast our mission to “touch” the Sun: https://t.co/T3F4bqeATB pic.twitter.com/Ah4023Vfvn
— NASA (@NASA) August 12, 2018
Travelling into the Sun's corona has meant the spacecraft had to be fitted with a custom heat shield and autonomous system to protect it from the Sun's intense light emissions.
The Parker probe will also use the gravity of Venus to get closer to the Sun. It will fly pass Venus seven times during the mission, each time getting closer to the Sun.
The successful launch this morning comes after Nasa yesterday pulled the mission yesterday due to last-minute technical difficulties. An alarm raised during the 65-minute weather window could not be resolved before time elapsed.
Read more: Nasa delays its space flight to the Sun