It’s there, but only half way. The Solar Orbiter standing on the edge of the sun is doing something that has never been accomplished before. Once conducted, it will further enable a unique study of space weather and the Sun-Earth connection. Read below to know all about it.
Today #SolarOrbiter is located directly between the Earth and the Sun, about halfway between the two, and races toward an approach to the Sun on March 26. A new series of images spans January 1 – March 2, ending with a spectacular close-up of a solar flare! See more👉 pic.twitter.com/M5LCf6LIhW
— ESA’s Solar Orbiter (@ESASolarOrbiter) March 7, 2022
In an ESA publication, it confirmed that the Solar Orbiter is currently about 75 million kilometers from the sun. The release also stated that the spacecraft will pass through Mercury’s orbit on March 14. After that, it will come closest to the sun on March 26. Due to its position and relative proximity to Earth, Solar Orbiter has thus far been able to maintain near continuous contact and beam back large amounts of data.
The mission of the Solar Orbiter
The Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a Sunobservation satellite jointly developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. The SolO is designed to obtain detailed measurements of the inner heliosphere and the nascent solar wind, and will also provide accurate observations of the sun’s polar regions, which is difficult to do from Earth. These observations are important in investigating how the sun creates and controls its heliosphere. SolO was launched on February 10, 2020. The mission is planned for seven years.