Atlas V 411 | Solar Orbiter
Launch Successful
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Launch Window
Feb. 10, 2020, 4:03 a.m. - Feb. 10, 2020, 6:03 a.m.
Feb. 10, 2020, 4:03 a.m. - Feb. 10, 2020, 6:03 a.m.
Solar Orbiter is a joint ESA/NASA mission dedicated to solar and heliospheric physics. It will be used to examine how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the vast bubble of charged particles blown by the solar wind into the interstellar medium. The spacecraft will combine in situ and remote sensing observations to gain new information about the solar wind, the heliospheric magnetic field, solar energetic particles, transient interplanetary disturbances and the Sun's magnetic field. Instruments include: * Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) * Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) * Magnetometer (MAG) * Radio and Plasma Wave analyser (RPW) * Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) * Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) * Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) * Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) * Coronagraph (Metis) While mission is not intended to get as close to the Sun as Parker Solar Probe, it's designed to coordinate observations and has different set of instruments. Main mission starts after one and only Earth flyby in November 2021, and lasts until Dec 2026 when it enters extended phase. During the mission, Solar Orbiter will get through numerous Venus gravity assists, and its trajectory will be highly inclined allowing direct observations of Sun's poles.
Atlas V with 4m fairing, 1 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.
See DetailsUnited Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.
INFO WIKI
The Sun is always mesmerising to watch, but Solar Orbiter captured a special treat on camera: a dark ‘prominence’ sticking out from the side of the Sun.
The European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter mission has split the flood of energetic particles flung out into space from the Sun into two groups, tracing each back to a different kind of outburst from our star.
Two Stars in Solar Science It takes a lot of work to make space missions happen. Hundreds or even thousands of experts work as a team to put together the spacecraft. Then it has to be tested in conditions similar to space, to be sure that …
Aside from sunlight, the Sun sends out a gusty stream of particles called the solar wind. The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission is the first to capture on camera this wind flying out from the Sun in a twisting, whirling motion. The solar wind …
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