NASA’s first Sun mission Solar Probe Plus set for 2018, to fly directly into star's atmosphere

NASA is going to launch its new mission named Solar Probe Plus which will enable the probe to be first ever to fly directly into the Sun’s atmosphere. 

Solar Probe Plus will have a nearly 5-inch thick coat of carbon-composite solar shields to explore the Sun’s atmosphere in the summer of 2018.

Since right now with present technology humans can’t make this journey, therefore, NASA is sending a roughly 10-foot high probe on the historic mission that will put it about closer to the sun than any spacecraft has ever reached before.

According to researchers, the probe will have to withstand heat and radiation never before experienced by any spacecraft, but the specially designed mission will also address questions that couldn't be answered before. Understanding the sun in greater and minute detail can also shed light on Earth and its place in the solar system.

This is NASA's first mission to the sun and its outermost atmosphere, called the corona.

According to NASA, the probe will eventually orbit within 3.7 million miles of the sun's surface. The observations and data could provide insight about the physics of stars, change what we know about the mysterious corona, increase understanding of solar wind and help improve forecasting of major space weather events. Those events can impact satellites and astronauts, as well as the Earth -- including the power grid and radiation exposure on airline flights.

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