CfA will play major role in mission to 'touch' the sun

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 16:21 in Astronomy & Space

When NASA's Solar Probe Plus (SPP) launches before the end of the decade, it will carry a suite of cutting-edge scientific instruments. Only one - the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) Investigation - will directly sample the Sun's outer atmosphere. Designed by scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), part of SWEAP will extend beyond the probe's heat shield to scoop up some of the Sun's tenuous gases.

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