Elaine Tong

NASA has plans to launch its very first mission to the sun. An announcement regarding this will be released on May 31 at 8 AM PST. The mission is named Solar Probe Plus.

Solar Probe Plus will travel into the range of 3.9 million miles towards the Sun’s surface, which is within Mercury’s orbit and the closest any spacecraft has ever been to the sun before. In this range, the mission will endure excruciating temperatures that are estimated to be roughly about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than any other historic spacecraft.

This launch will provide several data that will be helpful for future research, such as potentially harmful objects that may collide with Earth in the future. The information will be necessary to protect Earth in harm’s way.

National Academy of Sciences predicts a dangerous solar event to impact the Earth that would cost two trillion dollars to repair the US alone, which may also lead to the riddance of electricity and power for the US’s eastern seaboard. In attempts to lessen potential damage to the Earth, scientists will launch Solar Probe Plus to the sun.

There will be several incoming updates regarding Solar Probe Plus and its launch. Scientists are greatly anticipating the successful takeoff of the first mission embarked towards the sun in 2018.