Exploring the Sun Up Close: The Solar Wind Electron, Alphas, and Protons  (SWEAP) Instrument Suite aboard Solar Probe Plus

{slideshare} [slideshare id=9996915&doc=sppsweapnesosaoct2011-111102151358-phpapp02] {/slideshare}

The NASA Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission will be humanity’s first mission to the Sun. The spacecraft will close to within about four million miles of the solar surface in order to observe the acceleration of the solar wind first hand. A key requirement for Solar Probe Plus is the ability to make continuous, accurate, and fast measurements of the electrons and ionized helium (alpha-particles) and hydrogen (protons) that constitute the bulk of the solar wind. The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) Investigation is a two-instrument suite that provides these particle observations. SWEAP consists of the Solar Probe Cup (SPC) and the Solar Probe Analyzers (SPAN).  SPC is a Faraday Cup that looks at the Sun and measures ion and electron fluxes and flow angles as a function of energy. SPAN consists of an ion and electron electrostatic analyzer on the ram side of SPP (SPAN-A) and an electron ESA on the anti-ram side (SPAN-B). SPAN-A and -B are rotated 90 degrees relative to one another so their broad FOV combine to view the entire sky.  The talk will describe the science motivation for Solar Probe and specifically SWEAP, the instrument designs, and the expected data.  SWEAP measurements enable discovery and understanding of solar wind acceleration and formation, coronal and solar wind heating, and high-energy particle acceleration.

Kelly Korreck, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Dr. Korreck is an Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA.  She is a part of the Solar-Stellar X-ray Group.  She received her PhD in Space Physics from The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.  Her research has including soft x-ray detectors, jets associated with symbiotic stars, shocks in supernova remnants, and the Sun.  Her current research focuses on plasma dynamics of the solar corona and its propagation through interplanetary space as the solar wind and the effect it has on the Earth in the form of Space Weather.  She is the science and operations lead for the SWEAP Investigation aboard NASA’s Solar Probe Plus mission.   She is also the SAO Project Scientist for the High Resolution Coronal Imager Sounding Rocket.  She is a member of the American Astronomical Society, American Physical Society, and the American Geophysical Union.

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