This Week at NASA: Touching the Sun and More

The first mission designed to fly directly into the sun’s atmosphere – Solar Probe Plus has been renamed the Parker Solar Probe, in honor of University of Chicago physicist, Eugene Parker.
Parker is best known for developing the concept of solar wind, which is the stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun. This is the first time a NASA spacecraft has been named after a living person. Targeted for launch in 2018, the mission will help answer questions about the physics of how stars work. Also, Webb Space Telescope Showcased at JSC, Space Station Crew Safely Returns to Earth, and Centennial of JFK’s Birth.