Starprobe - The mission and system options

Abstract

The current science, mission and system concepts of a Starprobe mission to the sun are summarized for a launch in the late 1980s, arriving at the sun in the early 1990s. Gravitational, optical, and plasma scientific experiments have been studied for this mission to 4 solar radii. The necessarily high energy trajectories rely on Jupiter gravity assist as a means to send sufficient payloads to the sun. New spacecraft subsystem technologies are required to support the scientific data acquisition and return from 4 solar radii and are summarized here. A set of mission and system options to reduce mission cost were investigated and are discussed.