NEW YORK (AP) — A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the
sun than any object sent before.

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up
look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the
sun’s corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar
eclipse.

The next milestone: closest approach to the sun. Plans call for
Parker on Tuesday to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere
and pass within a record-breaking 3.8 million miles of the sun’s
surface.

NASA said at that moment, if the sun and Earth were at opposite
ends of a football field, Parker "would be on the 4-yard line.”

Mission managers won’t know how Parker fared until days after
the flyby since the spacecraft will be out of communication range.

The 233-foot tall probe before launch from Cape Canaveral.