Gallery: Flight to light – ULA sends Parker Solar Probe toward the Sun

The Parker Solar Probe mission was launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket on Sunday Aug. 12. Photo Credit: Mike Deep / SpaceFlight Insider
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — United Launch Alliance sent NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft on its way to “touch the surface of the Sun” (our parent star’s coronasphere) on Sunday, Aug. 12. The launch service provider had about an hour in which to get the rocket and its precious cargo off the launch pad at Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37. However, the Colorado-based firm managed to get the mission underway at the very opening of the window at 3:31 a.m. EDT (7:31 GMT).