The spacecraft would maneuver by flying around Venus seven times in six years to slingshot itself by the planet's gravity deeper and deeper into the sun's atmosphere. For its finale, Solar Probe Plus should be in position to witness how the sun energizes the most dangerous particles produced in solar storms just at the peak of the sun's stormy season. Scientists hope to use the information to hone predictions of solar flares and other space weather, which can affect the communications and positioning of satellites around Earth as well as threaten the health of astronauts living outside the bubble of the planet's protective atmosphere. Solar Probe Plus will have a magnetometer, plasma wave sensor, dust detector, and electron and ion analyzers to measure the environment right around the spacecraft. It will also be equipped with a telescope to make three-dimensional images of the corona. "We have a lot of work to do, but it's very exciting," Guhathakurta said. With a price tag of $740 million, Solar Probe Plus is being designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Related Links: Discovery News blog: Free Space |
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