Solar Probe Plus is an exciting mission of exploration and discovery, a journey to the Sun itself. By flying into the Sun's outer atmosphere - called the corona - Solar Probe plus will gather data on the processes that heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind - solving two fundamental mysteries that have been top-priority science goals for many decades. This mission will transform our understanding of the Sun and its sister Sun-like stars and enabling further exploration through our own solar system.
Solar Probe Plus will study the streams of charged particles the Sun hurls into space from a vantage point where the processes that heat the corona and produce solar wind actually occur. At closest approach Solar Probe will zip past the Sun at 125 miles per second, protected by a carbon-composite heat shield that must withstand up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit and survive blasts of radiation and energized dust at levels not experienced by any previous spacecraft.
 NASA's STEREO mission observes solar prominences |
Solar Probe Plus' science objectives fall under two main themes:
Solar Probe Plus will define the inner boundary conditions of the solar wind and the heliosphere during optimal phases of the solar cycle. |
