Mission To The Sun

For the first time in history, NASA is planning to send a probe to a “living, breathing star.” The name of the mission is Solar Probe+, and it could launch on its mission to the sun as early as 2015.

Solar Probe+, a heat-resistant spacecraft designed for the sun’s atmosphere, will spend seven years sampling solar wind and magnetism. The craft will be fitting with a heat shield designed to withstand temperatures of 1400 degrees Celsius.

The probe will be, fittingly, solar powered using electricity from “liquid-cooled solar panels that can retract behind the heat-shield when sunlight becomes too intense.” At its closest, the Solar Probe+ will be seven million kilometers from the sun.

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4 Comments

  1. man i bet if somebody went with it they wouldnt have to worry about not gettin a sun tan this summer

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