![]() The spacecraft will observe the Sun’s atmosphere up close with high spatial resolution telescopes and compare these observations to measurements taken in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft – together creating a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout the solar system. These jets could be the long-sought-after source of the solar wind. Each jet lasts between 20 and 100 seconds, and expels plasma at around 100 km/s (60 miles/s) or 360,000 km/h (220,000 mph). Solar Orbiter will study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and what drives the constant outflow of solar wind which affects Earth. Get ready for the annular solar eclipse on Oct. During its 21-month cruise, the spacecraft will take advantage of the gravity of Earth and Venus to place itself into the correct orbit around the Sun. The ESA/ NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered a multitude of tiny jets of material escaping from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. NASA’s Launch Services Program is managing the launch.Īs the main driver of space weather, it is essential to understand the behavior of the Sun to learn how to better safeguard our planet, space technology and astronauts. on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a Sun-observing probe developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 12, 2020.Īll media accreditation requests must be submitted online at:įor questions about accreditation, please email For other questions, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 32. Solar prominences are large structures of tangled magnetic field lines that keep dense concentrations of solar plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface, sometimes taking the form of arching loops. To attend these activities, international media must apply for credentials by 4:30 p.m. The ESA/ NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image together with the full solar disc. Credit: Solar Orbiter: ESA/ATG medialab Parker Solar Probe: NASA. Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Solar Orbiter (left) and NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will be able to observe the Sun simultaneously (artist’s impression). During its 21-month cruise, the spacecraft. 5, 2020, launch of Solar Orbiter – a joint NASA/ESA (European Space Agency) mission that will address central questions concerning our star, the Sun. ESAs Sun-exploring mission Solar Orbiter will take the closest ever images of the surface of our parent star. NASA has opened media accreditation for the Feb. These images will provide key insights into the poorly-understood magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun’s 11-year cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms. Solar Orbiter will capture the very first images of the Sun’s polar regions. “Together with our European partners, we're entering a new era of heliophysics that will transform the study of the Sun and help make astronauts safer as they travel on Artemis program missions to the Moon," NASA associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said previously in a statement.Scheduled to launch in February 2020, ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Solar Orbiter spacecraft is shown in an illustration against the backdrop of an image of the Sun captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Every 11 years, the poles flip beginning a new cycle of solar activity, which can jeopardize power stations on Earth and could put astronauts in danger. Eventually, scientists hope to obtain information about the Sun’s poles. ![]() With all of the instruments working, the Solar Orbiter is now continuing its mission as planned. Metis is the coronagraph of the scientific payload of Solar Orbiter, the first mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) program Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. “The pandemic required us to perform critical operations remotely - the first time we have ever done that,” said Russell Howard, principal investigator for one of Solar Orbiter's imagers. And during commissioning, when each instrument is extensively tested, ESOC staff was reduced to only essential personnel. Mission control at the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany closed completely for more than a week. The mission has also been challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. The Solar Orbiter has encountered some of the usual challenges associated with space exploration - in early June, it had an unexpected run-in with comet ATLAS’s ion and dust tails.
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