The goal of this mission is to study and better understand spectra of the "Sun as a Star". The Full-sun Ultraviolet Rocket Spectrograph (FURST) will obtain the first high resolution spectra of the Sun as a star in far ultraviolet. FURST spectra will have applications to solar and stellar physics, climate science, and the interaction of solar UV radiation with comets, moons, and planets. The immediate science goal is to understand better the processes of chromospheric and coronal heating. The solar spectrum obtained will enable understanding of the interaction of solar UV radiation with solar system bodies, the nature of magnetic energy dissipation as a Sun-like star evolves, and the dependence of magnetic activity on stellar mass and metallicity.

The Principal Investigator is Dr. Kankelborg/Montana State Unversity