NASA postponed until tomorrow the launch of the first ever spacecraft to fly directly toward the Sun on a mission to plunge into our star's sizzling atmosphere and unlock its mysteries.
The reason for the delay was not immediately clear, but was called for after a gaseous helium alarm was sounded in the last moments before liftoff, officials said.
Engineers are taking utmost caution with the USD 1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe, which Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's science mission directorate, described as one of the agency's most "strategically important missions."
Parker said he was "impressed" by the Parker Solar Probe, calling it "a very complex machine."
According to Zurbuchen, Parker is an "incredible hero of our scientific community."
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