The Parker Solar Probe is a spacecraft launched by NASA to study the Sun and its innermost corona. The probe will make multiple close approaches to the Sun, getting as close as 6.16 million kilometers to the surface at perihelion. This will make it the closest any man-made object has ever come to the Sun.
The probe is designed to take measurements of the solar wind and magnetic fields in order to better understand how they interact with each other. It will also study the acceleration of particles in the solar wind and how energy is transferred from the solar wind to the particles. The data collected by the Parker Solar Probe will help us to better understand how our star works and how it affects space weather near Earth.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018, on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It is expected to reach its final orbit around December 2024.