It has been several years since humankind has conquered the moon. Now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is hoping to get closer to the sun in an effort to uncover one or two of its secrets.

It is not clear whether the NASA has already been successful in building a robotic spacecraft that can successfully get near the sun without melting from the extremely high temperature. However, the space agency appears eager to try out the latest development in that area.

Sending a robotic spacecraft to the sun will not be solely for research purposes. The space agency is hoping that information gathered from the mission can be used to protect the earth from a huge solar event as gigantic flares from the sun can affect the earth, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The Solar Probe Plus mission would be the space agency's first mission targeting the sun. It is not clear whether the space agency expects the mission to be a success, although it is evident that it is hoping for a productive mission. The mission is expected to commence in 2018.

The robotic spacecraft is expected to get within six million kilometers of the sun. The mission is expected to answer three questions about the sun that could help the space agency work on further improving space travel, NBC News reported

One of the mysteries that is expected to be unraveled in by the Solar Probe Plus mission is the difference of temperature between the photosphere and the corono. The space agency has been wondering why the surface of the sun is much cooler than its atmosphere. The mission is also anticipated to reveal the source of the solar wind of the sun and the reason behind solar energetic particles.

Jobs & Hire previously reported that the NASA sent mice into space to study bone healing.