NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which launched from Florida at approximately 3:30 local time, will approach within 8.86 solar radii of the sun.

The probe launched using a Delta IV Heavy rocket.

It will travel at a maximum speed of 700,000 kilometers (434,960 miles) per hour.

The Parker Solar Probe expected to arrive at the sun in November, after which it will complete seven flybys over the course of seven years. Each flyby will use Venus' gravity to bring the probe closer to the sun.

The probe's goals are to expand our knowledge of the solar wind's origin and evolution, and to explore the "corona" - the upper layer of the Sun's atmosphere. It will also study plasma, energy particles, and magnetic fields.