NASA Solar probe

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This article or section documents a scheduled or expected spaceflight. Details may change as the launch date approaches or more information becomes available.

The NASA Solar Probe project^[1] is a proposed robotic spacecraft that will approach as close as 9 Solar Radii from the sun.^[2] This project (also known under the name "Solar Probe+", pronounced "Solar Probe Plus") was announced as a new mission start in the fiscal 2009 budget year. On May 1, 2008 the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory announced to design and build the spacecraft, on a schedule to launch in 2015^[3].

[edit] Scientific goals

• Determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of solar wind.
• Trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind.
• Determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles.
• Explore dusty plasma near the sun and its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation.

[edit] External links

• Unofficial report on the NASA Solar Probe project
• Official NASA Solar Probe project homepage
• [1]

[edit] References

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