NASA's Parker Solar Probe aims to bring the sun's mysteries to light
This weekend, in the dark hours before dawn, NASA plans to send a spacecraft to touch the sun.
The Parker Solar Probe, which could blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as early as 12:33 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, will dip down to within 4 million miles of the solar surface - or nearly 10 times as close as sun-scorched Mercury.
Each of its 24 orbits will provide an extraordinary glimpse at the sun's ethereal corona and offer a taste of the solar wind.
Each pass also comes with terrible risk, forcing the spacecraft to face powerful electric and magnetic fields, speeding-bullet dust grains and obliterating heat.
The years of work building
