Solar Orbiter

Flyaway

Flyaway

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This is launching very soon in February.


ESA Science & Technology - Solar Orbiter

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. Solar Orbiter aims to make significant breakthroughs in our understanding both of how the inner heliosphere works, and of the...
sci.esa.int sci.esa.int
 
Why is this in the unbuilt projects section rather than Aerospace or Bar?
 
Seeker have re-uploaded their video:

 
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Flyaway said:
dan_inbox said:
Why is this in the unbuilt projects section rather than Aerospace or Bar?
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Because it’s a space project. This section is called space projects is it not.
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On this site, "Projects" usually refers to things that were never actually built (or at least only to prototype). But that is most strictly applied in the Aircraft forums. The other sections usually get a bit more slack, and I think we have several topics on operational spacecraft in this section already.
 
Grey Havoc said:
That should have been caught in testing, one would have thought.
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Perhaps in testing the temps on those pins never fell quite that far. The real world has a habit of presenting scenarios that testing does not reveal.

EDIT: On further research, the perils of relying on Twitter become clear. The full (or at least more full) quote, via SpaceRef:

"We saw that the pins that hold the doors of the remote observation instruments safely in place during launch were cooling down more rapidly than expected as we tilted them away from the Sun," says Andrea.

"If their temperature had fallen to below -40°C, they could have undergone 'cold welding', sticking them in place and preventing the doors of the remote sensing instruments from opening."

"The pins had already gotten too cold to move, and were in danger of sticking. To prevent this, we sent the command for Solar Orbiter to enter its 'safe mode', resetting its orientation and pointing the pins back towards the Sun."
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So yes, a known condition that they anticipated, but simply happened faster than testing had suggested it would.
 
www.esa.int

Solar Orbiter to pass through the tails of Comet ATLAS

ESA’s Solar Orbiter will cross through the tails of Comet ATLAS during the next few days. Although the recently launched spacecraft was not due to be taking science data at this time, mission experts have worked to ensure that the four most relevant instruments will be switched on during the...
www.esa.int
 
FighterJock said:
These pictures of the surface of the sun by the Solar Probe are spectacular to say the least, I cannot wait to see what comes next as the probe gets nearer to the Sun.
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As long as we don't have to call up International Rescue.

;)
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1343179217148792839
View: https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1343179217148792839


https://twitter.com/x/status/1343179620271730690
View: https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1343179620271730690


Update from the flight control team: 'We're post-Closest Approach in TM now on ground' = We have confirmed #VenusFlyby complete by checking the telemetry, so all #good
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Our @ESASolarOrbiter has adopted its post-flyby attitude... all good 230 990 088.889 km away!
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1507673466220204034
View: https://twitter.com/ESASolarOrbiter/status/1507673466220204034


Happy perihelion day! Today we're flying by the #Sun at about 48 million km, in one of many close perihelion passes throughout our mission. Here's a taste of what's to come https://esa.int/Science_Exploration...biter/Zooming_into_the_Sun_with_Solar_Orbiter #WeAreAllSolarOrbiters
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1508009681557635073
View: https://twitter.com/ESASolarOrbiter/status/1508009681557635073


Happy SUNday! ☀️ #SolarOrbiter passed through a close solar perihelion yesterday, but there is so much more to come over the next years as we eventually get those much awaited views of the Sun's poles. Here's how we'll do it
www.esa.int

How to get the best view of the Sun

ESA’s Solar Orbiter is imaging the Sun from closer than any spacecraft has done before, and will be the first to directly observe the Sun’s poles, which are key to understanding the star’s magnetic field that drives the generation of space weather. But getting to the uniquely tilted orbit...
www.esa.int
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Coronal mass ejection hits Solar Orbiter before Venus flyby

On 30 Aug, a large coronal mass ejection shot from the Sun in the direction of Venus. Not long later, the storm arrived at the second planet from the Sun. As the data continues to come in from Solar Orbiter, this strike reveals why ‘in situ’ monitoring of space weather and its effects on the bodies, and spacecraft, of the Solar System are so important.

Fortunately, there were no negative effects on the spacecraft as the ESA-NASA solar observatory is designed to withstand and in fact measure violent outbursts from our star – although Venus doesn’t always get off so lightly. Coronal mass ejections have a tendency of eroding Venus’ atmosphere, stripping off gasses as they whoosh by.
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