When Icarus tried it, he came down to Earth with a bump. In fact, not so long ago scientists at NASA described the very idea of a mission to the Sun as "far out" and "probably impossible". But that didn't stop them trying. At the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, engineer Jim Randolph is putting the finishing touches to a very special spacecraft. In six years' time, Randolph's Solar Probe will begin a long, hot journey which will take it to just a few million kilometres from the Sun. There it will watch waves of searing gas slosh across the solar surface, witness fiery tornadoes the size of Earth, and perhaps even snatch a sample of star. NASA has high hopes for its "Sun chaser", which could reveal where the solar wind comes from and help us predict the magnetic storms that can wreck communications satellites and bring down power grids. As Randolph says, it's "just so different from anything ever done before". http://www.newscientist.com/features/features.jsp?id=ns22741 == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
