Delta IV Heavy Arrives at Launch Pad for Parker Solar Probe

A brilliant blue sky serves as a backdrop as the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy first stage is being lifted to the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky