NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, about the size of a small car, will travel directly into our Sun's atmosphere about 4 million miles from the star's surface, closer than any manmade object has ever come to our home star. The historic mission that will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun is scheduled to launch on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018.

At closest approach, the Parker Solar Probe will travel around the Sun at approximately 430,000 mph (700,000 kph). That's fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in one second.