Solar Orbiter probe has been launched in the direction of the Sun. It is planned that he will approach our star at 42 million km. and for the first time in history will study its poles.

On Monday morning, the Solar Orbiter probe has been launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Onboard the Atlas V 411 rocket, the orbiter flew into space at 5:02 a.m. CET.

Highlights of launching the Solar Orbiter project

The goal of the mission, which is estimated at almost 1.5 billion euros, is to give a new idea of ​​our star. Which located at a distance of about 150 million km from us. The spacecraft, created as part of a joint project between NASA and its European partner. The European Space Agency (ESA), carries ten scientific instruments on board and is controlled by the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt. The spacecraft will capture the polar regions of the Sun with high resolution. In addition, the mission should allow a better understanding of space weather. This is important, since radiation and solar flares can also be dangerous for the Earth.

The 1.8-ton orbiter has a long way to go. They say that he will be able to approach a distance of 42 million km. to the sun. According to ESA, at this distance the intensity of the sun is 13 times higher than on Earth. To protect against temperatures of several hundred degrees, the probe has a heat-resistant coating of titanium. In 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe probe flew closer to the Sun, reaching a distance of just over 6 million km. from the sun. In this case, “Parker” had to withstand temperatures of about 1370 degrees Celsius.

The sun was studied at close range back in the 1970s. At this time, the joint German-American research “Helios -1” and “Helios-2” has started, which were carried out at a distance of about 45 million km. from the heat ball.

Temperatures of about 5500 degrees Celsius prevail on the surface of the Sun, and 15-16 million degrees inside the Sun. In its trajectory, the greatest distance between the orbital vehicle and the Earth will be 300 million km. Transmitting a radio signal flying at the speed of light will take 16.5 minutes.

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