NASA is planning to send a probe to the Sun by as early as 2015. The recently announced Solar Probe+ mission will send a heat-resistant spacecraft deep into the Sun’s atmosphere to take readings and samples of solar wind and magnetism.

NASA Scientist Lika Guhathakurta says, “We are going to visit a living, breathing star for the first time. This is an unexplored region of the solar system and the possibilities for discovery are off the charts.”

The spacecraft of Solar Probe+, which will be designed and built by Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, comes equipped with a heat shield capable of protecting it from temperatures in excess of 1,600 degrees Celsius, along with blasts of solar radiation stronger than any ever experienced by a manmade machine.

You can takepart in harnessing this immense amount of energy for use here on Earth by learning more about the Solar Energy Industry Association, which advocates and lobbies for the implementation of clean, renewable solar power to meet the energy needs of the future.

LINKS:

Science@NASA: NASA Plans Visit to the Sun

Physorg.com: NASA Plans Visit to the Sun

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Solar Probe Plus Report (pdf)