"NASA's Parker Solar Probe Set for Historic Sun Touchdown in 2024"
NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to make history by the end of 2024 as it approaches the sun within 6 million kilometers, becoming the fastest human-made object ever. The mission aims to study the sun's corona, which is hotter than its surface, and to understand solar processes like solar winds and storms. This could lead to improved forecasting of space weather events that affect Earth. The probe's unique trajectory, aided by Venus's gravity, will culminate in its closest pass to the sun before its orbit changes, preventing further close encounters.