The Solar Orbiter (also called SOLO) is a Sun-observing satellite, in development by the European Space Agency. It is to be launched on an Atlas 51 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA in May 2015. It will perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun, which is difficult to do from Earth. The Solar Orbiter will make observations of the Sun from distances as close as 45 solar radii, or 0.22 AU.
Scientific objectives
The top scientific goals of the Solar Orbiter mission are:
- Determine the properties, dynamics and interactions of plasma, fields and particles in the near-Sun heliosphere;
- Investigate the links between the solar surface, corona and inner heliosphere;
- Explore, at all latitudes, the energetics, dynamics and fine-scale structure of the Sun’s magnetized atmosphere;
- Probe the solar dynamo by observing the Sun’s high-latitude field, flows and seismic waves.
Payload
The Baseline mission defined shall consist of the following observation packages:
- Solar Wind Plasma Package for measuring solar wind plasmas and electrons
- Fields Package to measure electromagnetic fields
- Particles Package for energetic particles, neutrons, gamma-rays, and dust measurements
- Remote-Sensing Package: Solar images and Doppler velocity and magnetic field; solar disk and corona images; spectroscopy, plasma diagnostics; imaging of acceleration sites, solar flare timing; coronal imaging and diagnostics
External links
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