The Solar Orbiter that symbolizes the association of US-European space exploration was the closest approach to the second planet of our Solar System. December 27 was yesterday when the orbiter, located on a trip to the sun, found itself closest to the planet, Venus. Here’s all about the approach.
Solar Orbiter meets closest to Venus
Image ~ ESA
The US-European Solar Orbiter spacecraft approached Venus on December 27 at 7:39 am EST (12:39 GMT or 06:09 PM IST). According to a report by Space.com, the spacecraft was about 7,500 kilometers away from the top of the planet’s clouds. The spacecraft’s journey to the sun has several loops, including the flyus Venus. Therefore, the scientists tried to make the most of the opportunity to collect some important data through this closest approach.
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Daniel Müller who is a project scientist for the mission of the European Space Agency said in a press release at the fall annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union that the “Solar Orbiter is, in fact, an unplanned mission especially to take the ideas of Venus. We’re always looking for bonus opportunities to do science, so yes, we do watch when we come to Venus. “Nevertheless, the focus of this mission is to study the Sun, which is why the data collection time for Venus is limited. Therefore, no images of Venus would come. out of this spaceship.
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However, the Solar Orbiter collected data using the magnetometer, radio and plasma wave instrument and the other sensors on the energetic gravitational detector. These data will help scientists to understand how Venus interacts with the Solar Winds since the planet does not have the magnetic field like the Earth. So the Solar Winds are just impacting the planet instead of the magnetic field which is very interesting and different.
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Image ~ NASA
The Solar Orbiter is the partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) that was launched in February. the spaceship spends seven years studying our sun. On the other hand, the Solar Orbiter features a unique design that protects the spacecraft from the heat of the sun. According to Muller, the Sun-wary design has a heat shield. He said the spacecraft must “point our heat shield toward the sun, which cannot be changed. All the telescopes look through the heat shield in the direction of the sun.”
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The Solar Orbiter will give some detailed views of the solar poles. However, scientists are also looking forward to knowing the exact environment of the home star. The spacecraft is equipped with a sufficient array of instruments that are said to deliver the expected results as studied by the scientists.