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#20
by
Chris Bergin
on 18 Mar, 2014 22:11
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Yeah, I'm writing an article on this and this is a duplicate thread anyway. People love presser here.
Will merge and sort it all out.
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#21
by
Chris Bergin
on 18 Mar, 2014 22:23
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#22
by
bolun
on 07 May, 2014 10:12
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#23
by
bolun
on 16 Dec, 2018 13:45
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#2: SOLAR ORBITER RECEIVES ITS SUNBLOCK14 December 2018 17:50
It's testing time for ESA's Solar Orbiter: after leaving the premises of prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK in September, the spacecraft has started its test campaign at the IABG facility in Ottobrunn, Germany.
With its assembly completed, the Solar Orbiter Proto Flight Model (PFM) was despatched to Germany on 26 September. Since arrival there, it has been blanketed with layers of insulation in preparation for its first major environmental check-outs: the thermal-vacuum cycling and balance tests. These will ensure that the spacecraft can carry out its ambitious mission to study the Sun close up.
The PFM is essentially the same as what is referred to as a Flight Model (FM) in the case of other missions, but it is subjected to more severe testing environments in order to complete its qualification campaign.
http://sci.esa.int/solar-orbiter/60988-solar-orbiter-receives-its-sunblock/Image credit: Airbus Defence and Space
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#24
by
Tywin
on 07 Apr, 2019 03:16
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#25
by
Bean Kenobi
on 07 Apr, 2019 14:11
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Solar Orbiter almost ready for her journey to Kourou...at the moment all good with the vibration test...
It will be launched by an Atlas V from CCAFS, not Kourou.
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#26
by
Star One
on 07 Apr, 2019 14:16
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Solar Orbiter almost ready for her journey to Kourou...at the moment all good with the vibration test...
It will be launched by an Atlas V from CCAFS, not Kourou.
It’s even in the article linked to above.
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#27
by
zubenelgenubi
on 07 Jul, 2019 12:46
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#28
by
starbase
on 14 Oct, 2019 15:41
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ESA's Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a mission to launch on an Atlas V 411 on Feb. 6 2020.
https://sci.esa.int/web/solar-orbiter/-/51168-summarySince the beginning of the 1990s, six unprecedented spacecraft built in Europe for the Ulysses, SOHO and Cluster missions have been investigating the Sun and its impact on our planet. With Solar Orbiter, we will take a close approach to find out ever more about our nearest star.
Solar Orbiter is a mission dedicated to solar and heliospheric physics. It was selected as the first medium-class mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Programme. The programme outlines key scientific questions which need to be answered about the development of planets and the emergence of life, how the Solar System works, the origins of the Universe, and the fundamental physics at work in the Universe.
Solar Orbiter 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.
Scheduled for launch in February 2020, the mission will provide close-up, high-latitude observations of the Sun. Solar Orbiter will have a highly elliptic orbit – between 1.2AU at aphelion and 0.28AU at perihelion. It will reach its operational orbit just under two years after launch by using gravity assist manoeuvres (GAMs) at Earth and Venus. Subsequent GAMs at Venus will increase its inclination to the solar equator over time, reaching up to 24° at the end of the nominal mission (approximately 7 years after launch) and up to 33° in the extended mission phase.
Being close to the Sun allows for observations of solar surface features and their connection to the heliosphere for much longer periods than from near-Earth vantage points. The view of the solar poles will help us to understand how dynamo processes generate the Sun's magnetic field.
The science payload of Solar Orbiter comprises both remote-sensing and in situ instruments. The in situ instruments will operate continuously. During each orbit, the complete instrument suite will be operated around closest approach, and at the minimum and maximum heliographic latitudes – the segments of the orbit where Solar Orbiter will be farthest below and above the solar equator. Since the orbital characteristics will change in the course of the mission, individual orbits will be dedicated to specific science questions.
Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led mission with strong NASA participation. There will be ten instruments on board, eight of which will be provided by Principal Investigators through national funding by ESA Member States. A European-led consortium supported by national funding and ESA contributions will provide one complete instrument, whilst the remaining instrument and an additional sensor will be provided by NASA. The launch from Cape Canaveral will be aboard a NASA-provided launch vehicle.
Following three videos showing the trajectory from launch to final orbit.
Heliocentric:
Earth-centric:
This last video shows a dynamic perspective and lasts longer into the future (for an extended mission timeline):
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#29
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 08:16
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Media day today at IABG about Solar Orbiter...
Will post photos during the day.
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#30
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 08:34
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#31
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 08:45
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ESA Science Director Gunther Hasinger
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#32
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 08:56
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Eckard Settelmeyer. Airbus head of earth science
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#33
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 09:07
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Cesar Garcia ESA solar orbiter project manager
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#34
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 09:12
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#35
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 09:27
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#36
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 09:45
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Frederic Auchere, Solar Orbiter scientist
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#37
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 09:50
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Tim Horbury, Solar Orbiter scientist
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#38
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 10:07
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#39
by
jacqmans
on 18 Oct, 2019 12:02
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