Science

NASA will fly you to the sun _ or at least your name

07 of March 2018

This illustration from NASA shows Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. NASA is accepting online submissions until April 27, 2018, for sending your name on the spacecraft all the way to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben via AP),This illustration from NASA shows Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. NASA is accepting online submissions until April 27, 2018, for sending your name on the spacecraft all the way to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben via AP)

NASA will fly you to the sun _ or at least your name. Now until April 27, NASA is accepting online submissions for this hottest ticket in town. The names will be sent on the Parker Solar Probe all the way to the sun this summer. Once launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the spacecraft will come within a mere 4 million miles of our star, closer than any other. That's well within the sun's scorching atmosphere.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA will fly you to the sun — or at least your name.

Now until April 27, NASA is accepting online submissions for this hottest ticket in town. The names will be sent on the Parker Solar Probe all the way to the sun.

Once launched this summer from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the probe will eventually come within 4 million miles of our star, closer than any other spacecraft. Temperatures will reach 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 degrees Celsius), as the spacecraft zips in and out of this atmospheric hot zone. Until now, the materials for such a grueling journey were unavailable.

Actor William Shatner, who portrayed Capt. James Kirk in the old “Star Trek” TV series, is NASA’s pitchman for the send-your-name-to-the-sun campaign.