The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Sunday, August 12, launched the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle with the automatic spacecraft Parker Solar Probe to investigate the Sun's corona.

This was reported in the National Aerospace Agency of the United States.

The launch was made at 10. 31 MSK from the launch complex-37 of the cosmodrome at Cape Canaveral. The start was in the standard mode. The separation of the second and third stages of the heavy launch vehicle was carried out according to the plan.

On the eve, the launch was postponed due to an additional check of the data transmission system from the probe to the Earth and the impossibility in this connection to meet the designated start window.

Scientists suggest that the probe, which cost about 1.5 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros), will be able to fly to the Sun at a record distance of 6.2 million kilometers. The spacecraft is protected by a special thermal shield, so that it can withstand temperatures above 1400 degrees Celsius. His tasks include studying the structure of magnetic fields and the solar wind - a continuous stream of plasma emitted by the Sun. This is reported by Deutsche Welle.