NASA's First Mission to the Sun Set for 2018 (Infographic)

Not so long ago, we showed NASA’s ambitious plans to unravel the mysteries of Trojan asteroids – fossils of early planet formation that could offer important clues about the history of our solar system. Now, NASA has turned its eyes towards the Sun, with a solar probe set to launch in the summer of 2018.

The first mission designed to fly directly into the sun’s atmosphere – Solar Probe Plus has been renamed the Parker Solar Probe, in honor of University of Chicago physicist, Eugene Parker. Parker is best known for developing the concept of solar wind, which is the stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun.

The mission will help answer questions about the physics of how stars work. Let’s take a closer look at the data with this info-packed infographic:

‘Infogram Insights’ offers a deeper look at relevant, newsworthy topics – visualized with Infogram. Every week we explore the data that is forever changing our world.