NASA craft to head for the sun

Scientific probe will reach the speed of nearly 700,000 km/h

TAMPA, Florida - NASA is poised to launch a $1.5 billion spacecraft on a brutally hot journey toward the sun, offering scientists the closest view of our strange and mysterious star.

After the Parker Solar Probe blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, it will become the first spacecraft to fly through the sun's scorching atmosphere, known as the corona.