The space agency announced Wednesday that the red-hot mission would be named after Eugene Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. It's the first NASA spacecraft to be named after a researcher who is still alive, noted the agency's science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen. Scheduled to launch next summer from Cape Canaveral, the Parker Solar Probe will fly within 6.4 million kilometres of the sun's surface — right into the solar atmosphere. An artist’s concept of the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft — now renamed the Parker Solar Probe — approaching the sun. 'Hottest, fastest mission'Parker Solar Probe — formerly known as Solar Probe Plus — will venture seven times closer than any previous spacecraft, Fox said.

Source: CBC News May 31, 2017 20:15 UTC