In pursuit of new scientific information, Solar Probe Plus will: determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of solar wind; trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind; determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles; and explore dusty plasma near the Sun and its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation. The spacecraft will go close enough to the Sun to watch the solar wind speed up from subsonic to supersonic, and it will fly though the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles.
Ultimately it will revolutionize our knowledge of the origin and evolution of the solar wind, which I believe carries not only visible particles but also the Pneuma – the very life force that vivifies us.
Credit for Featured image at top of page:
http://clasp-research.engin.umich.edu/dailyplanet/2014/spring/images/banner3a-solar-probe-plus.jpg