NASA is just a few days away from launching its next space voyage, a spacecraft called the Parker Solar Probe that will eventually "touch the sun." 

The Parker Solar Probe, which is due to be launched from Cape Canaveral on Saturday, will fly closer to the Sun than any man-made object in history. The probe - which is approximately the size of a car - will face scorching heat on its journey and is designed to withstand extreme conditions.

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It will be traveling at a speed of 692,000 kmph or 200 kilometers a second. The project is named in honour of American physicist Eugene Parker, who first speculated on the nature of solar winds in 1958. This will also be the first time a mission has been named in honour of a living person. 

"NASA's Parker Solar Probe has cleared the final procedures in the clean room before its move to the launch pad, where it will be integrated onto its launch vehicle, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy," the space agency said in a statement.

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Delta IV Heavy, the largest operational launch vehicle will be used to launch it. The probe will then use a third stage rocket to gain the speed needed to reach the Sun. On reaching the Sun, it will beam back invaluable new data on the star's properties and atmospheric conditions. 

The probe will also be the closest a man-made object has ever gotten to the sun. It will make its final approach in 2025 and will orbit around the sun within a 4 million mile distance from the surface. 

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The probe has an array of instruments onboard like WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe) - an imaging instrument that will be taking pictures and SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alpha and Protons Investigation) - tools that will be able to measure different properties like velocity, density, and the temperature inside of the solar winds and plasma.

The mission will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and how processes there ultimately affect near-Earth space, NASA said.