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NASA will fly you to the sun _  or at least your name

NASA will fly you to the sun - or at least your name.
Credit: M. Weiss/CfA
An artist's impression of the newly-discovered rocky exoplanet, LHS 1140b that is located in the liquid water habitable zone surrounding its small, faint and red host star.

Now until April 27, NASA is accepting online submissions for this hottest ticket in town. The names will be sent on the Parker Solar Probe all the way to the sun.

Once launched this summer from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the probe will eventually come within 4 million miles of our star, closer than any other spacecraft.

Temperatures will reach 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 degrees Celsius), as the spacecraft zips in and out of this atmospheric hot zone. Until now, the materials for such a grueling journey were unavailable.

Actor William Shatner, who portrayed Capt. James Kirk in the old "Star Trek" TV series, is NASA's pitchman for the send-your-name-to-the-sun campaign.

Submissions will be accepted until April 27, 2018. Learn more and add your name to the mission here: http://go.nasa.gov/HotTicket

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