An Update on the FIRE (Solar Probe) Mission

A joint U.S.-Russian mission to the sun named FIRE is currently being planned. The mission consists of two spacecraft, one U.S. built and the other Russian built. Both spacecraft will be launched from a single vehicle, separate after launch, travel to Jupiter for a gravity assist that will maneuver the spacecraft into highly elliptical polar orbits about the sun. The U.S. spacecraft will have a perihelion of 4 Rs and the Russian 10 Rs. A full complement of in situ fields and particles instruments are planned for both spacecraft to measure acceleration mechanisms and other characteristics of the solar wind. The strawman payloads and expected science return will be discussed.