- Solar Orbiter
The Solar Orbiter (also called SOLO) is a
Sun -observingsatellite , in development by the European Space Agency. It is to be launched on anAtlas 5 Fact|date=September 2008 from theKennedy Space Center inFlorida ,USA in May 2015. It will perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun, which is difficult to do fromEarth . The Solar Orbiter will make observations of the Sun from distances as close as 45 solar radii, or 0.22 AU.cientific 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-Sunheliosphere ;
*Investigate the links between the solar surface,corona and innerheliosphere ;
*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 andseismic 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 measureelectromagnetic fields
*Particles Package for energetic particles, neutrons, gamma-rays, and dust measurements
*Remote-Sensing Package: Solar images andDoppler velocity andmagnetic field ; solar disk andcorona images; spectroscopy,plasma diagnostics; imaging of acceleration sites,solar flare timing; coronal imaging and diagnosticsExternal links
* [http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=45 Solar Orbiter Homepage]
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