<Tr> <Th> ISIS ‒ EPI </Th> <Td> Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun Energetic Particle Instruments </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Official insignia for the Parker Solar Probe mission </Td> </Tr> <P> Parker Solar Probe (previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, or Solar Probe+) is a planned NASA robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the Sun . It will approach to within 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million kilometers or 3.67 million miles) to the' surface' (photosphere) of the Sun . The project was announced as a new mission start in the fiscal 2009 budget year . On May 1, 2008 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory announced it will design and build the spacecraft, on a schedule to launch it in 2015 . The launch date has since been pushed back to 2018 . A Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle will enable the mission to become the fastest spacecraft to date . On May 31, 2017 the probe was renamed after solar astrophysicist Eugene Parker . This was the first time a NASA spacecraft was named after a living person . </P> <P> The Parker Solar Probe originates from a predecessor Solar Orbiter project conceived in the 1990s . Similar in design and objectives, the Solar Probe mission served as one of the centerpieces of the eponymous Outer Planet / Solar Probe (OPSP) program formulated by NASA . The first three missions of the program were planned to be the Solar Orbiter, the Pluto and Kuiper Belt reconnaissance mission Pluto Kuiper Express, and the Europa Orbiter astrobiology mission focused on Europa . Following the appointment of Sean O'Keefe as Administrator of NASA, the entirety of the OPSP program was cancelled as part of President George W. Bush's request for the 2003 United States federal budget . Administrator O'Keefe cited a need for a restructuring of NASA and its projects, falling in line with the Bush Administration's wish for NASA to refocus on "research and development, and addressing management shortcomings ." </P>

Where is the parker solar probe travelling to