articleSpace Science ReviewsNov 11, 2015HYBRID OA

The Solar Probe Plus Mission: Humanity’s First Visit to Our Star

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory · California Institute of Technology · +8 more institutions

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Abstract

Solar Probe Plus (SPP) will be the first spacecraft to fly into the low solar corona. SPP’s main science goal is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun’s coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what processes accelerate energetic particles. Understanding these fundamental phenomena has been a top-priority science goal for over five decades, dating back to the 1958 Simpson Committee Report. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The mission design and the technology and engineering developments enable SPP to meet its science…

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Topics & keywords

Keywords
  • Solar wind
  • Physics
  • Astronomy
  • Coronal mass ejection
  • Solar radius
  • Solar maximum
  • Corona (planetary geology)
  • Planetary science
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Affordable and clean energy
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