ESA solar probe Solar Orbiter hit by solar flare before Venus fly-by
ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft took another swing at Venus on Sunday. Shortly before, it had been hit by a powerful solar flare.
Artistic representation of the Solar Orbiter on Venus
(Bild: ESA/ATG medialab)
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Shortly before the Solar Orbiter took another swing at Venus on Sunday, the ESA probe was hit by an enormous solar flare. This was announced by the European Space Agency. However, since the probe is designed not only to survive such violent eruptions of our star, but also to collect data on them, this had no negative consequences. The third flyby at a distance of now 6000 km from the second planet of the solar system went "exactly according to plan" and the probe will now come another 4.5 million km closer to the sun than before.
Flung directly to Venus
(Bild:Â ESA/NASA SOHO)
The immense coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun occurred on 30 August and the eruption was hurled directly towards Venus, explains ESA. Data collected by the probe had clearly shown how its environment had changed as a result. However, some instruments were switched off to protect them from sunlight, which is reflected by Venus' atmosphere.
Eruptions like the one at the end of August would accelerate protons, electrons and ionised helium atoms from the sun's environment to relativistic speeds. These are precisely what pose a radiation risk to astronauts and spacecraft. Understanding this better is one of the tasks of the Solar Orbiter, which should also help to better protect us from such violent eruptions.
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The ESA spacecraft is to explore the sun from ever shorter distances and must move ever closer to it in several orbits. At the same time, it is to be deflected more and more in order to finally set its sights on its poles. To do this, it will fly past Venus several times. Last November, it passed the Earth for the last time, approaching its home planet up to about 460 km.
The probe is to study our sun from close up for up to ten years, taking high-resolution images and collecting data. The danger posed by the current increase in solar activity, which the Solar Orbiter is supposed to study, was recently experienced by Intelsat. The satellite operator lost control of one of its satellites after a solar storm and finally had to abandon it.
(mho)
