The magnetometer to measure the strength and direction of the magnetic field surrounding the spacecraft was built by Imperial College London. Two of those four in situ instruments were built in the UK. The remaining four are in situ instruments which take measurements of the environment around the spacecraft like the electrified gas emanating from the Sun known as the solar wind. Solar Orbiter has ten instruments, six of those are remote sensing, so they are cameras observing the Sun and providing imagery. Leading a group of European companies to supply different parts of the spacecraft, Solar Orbiter was designed and built right here in the UK by Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage. The contract to build Solar Orbiter was awarded to Astrium UK in 2012 and in the following year, a merger including this aerospace manufacturer led to the formation of Airbus Defence and Space. By measuring what the solar wind is made of and linking that to where on the Sun it originates from, scientists will be able to better understand the Sun’s inner workings. And on 26 March 2022, it reached its closest approach to the Sun to date – less than 50 million kilometres, which is less than a third of the Earth-Sun distance and well within the orbit of Mercury.ĭue to its inclined and elliptical orbit, the spacecraft will be able to capture views of the Sun’s polar regions – an endeavour that’s never been achieved before, and it will make a close approach to the Sun roughly every six months providing views of 180 kilometres-wide details on the surface. In spite of that, after making several fly-bys of Venus followed by a risky gravity assist from the Earth to shift its orbit closer to the Sun, Solar Orbiter was able to commence its scientific mission in November 2021. But the Sun’s immense gravitational pull and highly energetic nature make travelling to and studying it up-close incredibly challenging. The Sun is responsible for our space weather and so understanding it is key to protecting our planet, and the satellite infrastructure orbiting Earth that we’re so dependent on for our daily activities. Launched in February 2020, ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission is the most complicated science laboratory that’s ever been sent to the Sun.
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