NASA's Parker Solar Probe, mankind's first mission to 'touch' the Sun, was successfully launched yesterday on an unprecedented, seven-year journey to unlock the mysteries of the star's fiery outer atmosphere and its effects on space weather. Lift-off took place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3.31 am EDT (1.01 pm IST).

"The spacecraft is in good health and operating on its own. Parker Solar Probe has begun its mission to 'touch' the Sun," NASA said in a blog post, hours after the lift-off. The mission is the first to be named after a living scientist — Eugene N Parker, 91, who first predicted the existence of the solar wind in 1958.