NASA calls on APL to send a probe to the sun

Artist's concept of NASA's Solar Probe spacecraft making its pass toward the sun, where it will study the forces that create solar wind. Preliminary designs include a 9-foot-diameter, 6-inch-thick, carbon-foam-filled solar shield atop the spacecraft body, and two sets of solar arrays that would retract or extend as the spacecraft swings toward or away from the sun -- making sure the panels stay at proper temperatures and power levels. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory