To get a read on the true nature of the pristine InterstellarMedium (ISM) the space between the stars, we need a dedicated Interstellar Precursor Mission.
He chose this because the supernova that created it blew a giant bubble, known as the Vela nebula, out of the surrounding interstellarmedium, and that bubble is big enough to stand in for the infinite sheet of gas.
"The interesting thing is that the protons don't get accelerated in the supernova explosion itself, but they get accelerated in what we call the remnant - the shockwave that is created in the explosion and then moves away through the interstellarmedium, " said Dr Funk.