Solar Orbiter - built by Airbus to study the sun from unique distance

Solar Orbiter will investigate in unprecedented detail how our Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the bubble of space filled with particles and fields in which our own Earth orbits.

The selected mission profile and instrumentation package will enable for the first time:
Exploration of the uncharted innermost regions of the solar system
Close up observation of the Sun (at a perihelion orbital distance of 0.28 AU or ~59 solar radii above the surface of the Sun), allowing extended observation of the solar surface through an orbital angular velocity close to that of the Sun
Imaging of the Suns polar regions from heliographic latitudes in excess of 25° (climbing to in excess of 33° in the Extended Mission Phase)
The unique and unprecedented vantage point of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft will allow scientists to learn more about our home star and usher in the next era of solar science.
https://www.airbus.com/space/space-exploration/solar-orbiter.html
#Space #SpaceExploration #Sun