Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Death-defying NASA mission will make humanity’s closest approach to the Sun

The Parker Solar Probe will dive into the sizzling solar corona to explore its mysteries.
  1. Alexandra Witze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Step aside, Icarus: NASA has made a spacecraft that can fly through the Sun’s atmosphere without melting.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 559, 452-453 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05741-6

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 18 July 2018: The original text said that the mission’s orbital period is 88 days; this is the period for the final three perihelions only.

References

  1. Fox, N. J. et al. Space Sci. Rev. 204, 7–48 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Parker, E. N. Astrophys. J. 128, 664–676 (1958).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kasper, J. C. et al. Astrophys. J. 849, 126 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. DeForest, C. E. et al. Astrophys. J. 862, 1 (2018).

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links