Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Aug 20, 2020 18:24:35 GMT 2
(.#482).- The Solar Orbiter probe, which will study the Sun closely, is about to depart.
The Solar Orbiter probe, which will study the Sun closely, is about to depart.
Rémy Decourt, Journaliste.
Posted on 23/10/2019
The European Solar Orbiter probe, which will study the Sun, is about to leave the IABG test center near Munich. Built by Airbus, this probe will be launched in February 2020 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. To achieve its mission, the satellite will have to get as close to the Sun as no other European probe has ever done.
The European Space Agency's Sun Orbiter probe is about to reach Cape Canaveral, Florida, from where it will be launched in February 2020. Built by Airbus in Stevenage (United Kingdom), this probe will study the Sun on behalf of ESA and NASA, which is participating in this mission by providing the launcher and two instruments in exchange for access to all the data collected by the mission planned to last eight years.
With 10 instruments, Solar Orbiter's main objectives are to study the external atmosphere of the Sun and the solar wind fluxes which affect the Earth. It will also take the very first images of the polar regions of the Sun, thus providing important data on the still poorly understood magnetic environment of these areas which play a key role in the 11-year solar cycle and in regular waves of solar storms. This mission will be complementary to the Parker Solar Probe (Nasa) mission launched in August 2018 to approach the Sun like no other probe has ever done. It will then be able to study in situ the outermost part of the solar corona and a little beyond, when the heliosphere begins. Its information should make it possible to better understand the famous problem of the heating of the solar corona as well as the origin of the wind and solar flares.
The Solar Orbiter probe with, in the foreground, its heat shield designed to withstand temperatures of over 500 ° C. © ESA, S. Corvaja
Closer to the Sun!
To carry out their mission, these two probes have in common to approach distances very close to the Sun. At its perigee, or 0.28 astronomical units (42 million km), Solar Orbiter will be closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury, in an orbit allowing it to exit the ecliptic plane. To reach this position and reach its orbit above the poles of the Sun, Solar Orbiter will perform a complex series of revolutions, using the gravitational assistance of Venus and the Earth. As for the American, Parker Solar Probe, it will get even closer! If, in November 2018, the NASA probe flew over the Sun some 24 million kilometers away, in 2024, it will approach approximately six million kilometers from the "surface" of the Sun. A record!
At these distances, the heat shields of the two probes will be put to the test. Solar Orbiter will have to resist temperatures of more than 500 ° C while Parker Solar Orbiter, closer to the Sun, will have to resist temperatures of more or less 1.600 ° C.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
• The European Solar Orbiter probe will be launched in February 2020 for the Sun for an eight-year mission.
• Closer to the Sun, Solar Orbiter will be approximately 42 million kilometers away.
• A distance necessary to study the Sun in order to better understand its effects on the Solar System.
Solar Orbiter: a probe close to the Sun designed by Airbus DS
Rémy Decourt article
Published on 03/30/2015
Archives
A few days ago, an important stage in the development of the Solar Orbiter probe was reached with the end of the construction of the structural model of the satellite and its heat shield. This test model will be tested at IABG's facilities in Munich, to ensure that this future satellite will fulfill its daunting mission. Indeed, it must approach only 42 million kilometers from the Sun. It is only after these tests, and others which take place in the Technical Center of the European Space Agency (Estec), that Airbus Defense and Space, in charge of the program, will start construction of the flight model.
The construction of Solar Orbiter, which must approach the Sun like no other device has ever done before, is progressing. Indeed, the probe designed by> Airbus Defense and Space on behalf of the European Space Agency (Esa) will risk up to 42 million km from the surface of our Star. To date, the distance record near the Sun is held by Helios de la Nasa, which had approached it some 43.5 million km, on April 17, 1976. Even if it exceeds it, that of Solar Orbiter does not will not last long, because it will be sprayed in 2024 by Nasa's Solar Probe Plus, which should approach it only 6.3 million km.
As explained to us by Orlane Bergogne, operations architect of the Solar Orbiter program, when Esa selected the mission in May 2012, “the thermal protection of the probe as well as the magnetic and molecular neutrality required to be able to perform efficiently the most sensitive scientific measures ”were the two main technological hard points that determined the success of the mission or not.
Three years later, its development has advanced well. The hard spots at the start gave way to technological choices. While some of them are new, others are derived from the BepiColombo mission, destined for Mercury. This is what Nicolas Croisard, Solar Orbiter system engineer at Airbus Defense and Space, explains to us.
The structural model of the Solar Orbiter satellite's heat shield, seen here in March 2015 at the Stevenage facility. © Airbus Defense & Space
Thus, concerning thermal protection, the Solar Orbiter solar panels are "based, in large part, on the technology developed by Airbus Defense and Space for BepiColombo", because the temperatures reached are similar to those of this probe. When it is in orbit around Mercury, the face exposed to the Sun will have to resist temperatures higher than 300 ° C and some specific thermal exposures of the large antenna can reach 400 ° C or more are planned. As for Solar Orbiter, "we expect temperature peaks of around 600 ° C". The antennas, and in particular the high gain antenna used to transmit data to Earth at long distance (up to almost two astronomical units), are also similar to those developed for BepiColombo.
In addition to the materials used, the satellite's thermal protection is based on the heat shield with an innovative design "based on two layers of thermal protection, one at very high temperature, the other more conventional", separated by an empty space allowing dissipation a significant part of the heat on the sides. The shield is also "separated from the rest of the satellite by another empty space", further increasing heat dissipation. This concept allows "the temperature behind the shield to be at a reasonable level of 80 ° C, against more than 500 ° C for the surface of the shield". Solar Orbiter thus benefits from the unrivaled expertise developed by Airbus Defense and Space in the field of shields.
Like almost all interplanetary exploration missions, "new technologies have been developed specifically for Solar Orbiter". We can cite in particular the development of “outer layers resistant to extreme temperatures (SolarBlack for the heat shield) or industrial processes to deposit them (PVD, for Physical Vapor Deposition)”.
Study the Sun without burning the satellite
"The magnetic and molecular neutrality required to be able to efficiently carry out scientific measurements and in particular to allow the most precise possible measurement of the magnetic field generated by the Sun" is the other strong constraint which results from this proximity to the Sun. Thus, some instruments will be "mounted on an arm that deploys after launch". Great care has also been taken "to systematically measure the electromagnetic footprint of all existing equipment or minimize it for new equipment". Finally, some equipment is surrounded by shielding to further limit the electromagnetic signature of the satellite.
Another critical point is “the definition and validation of the survival modes of the satellite”. They allow the satellite to be saved in the event of serious breakdowns. It consists of an attitude control mode where the satellite is kept pointed towards the sun so that it does not break down in electricity.
In the case of Solar Orbiter, there is obviously no question of pointing it directly in front of the Sun like a satellite around the Earth or another planet. This is why the “extremely fine control of the attitude of the satellite” is one of the special features of the mission, since a deviation error greater than 6.5 ° and “the survival of the satellite is at stake”. Thus, "several monitoring units are used to guarantee the rapid detection of deviations". In the event of an anomaly, "the system is able to react extremely quickly, thus keeping the body of the satellite in the shadow of the heat shield". The system is such that after an anomaly, an “autonomous return to nominal mode [where scientific observations are made] is possible, without waiting for the intervention of the control center”.
F I N .
The Solar Orbiter probe, which will study the Sun closely, is about to depart.
Rémy Decourt, Journaliste.
Posted on 23/10/2019
The European Solar Orbiter probe, which will study the Sun, is about to leave the IABG test center near Munich. Built by Airbus, this probe will be launched in February 2020 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. To achieve its mission, the satellite will have to get as close to the Sun as no other European probe has ever done.
The European Space Agency's Sun Orbiter probe is about to reach Cape Canaveral, Florida, from where it will be launched in February 2020. Built by Airbus in Stevenage (United Kingdom), this probe will study the Sun on behalf of ESA and NASA, which is participating in this mission by providing the launcher and two instruments in exchange for access to all the data collected by the mission planned to last eight years.
With 10 instruments, Solar Orbiter's main objectives are to study the external atmosphere of the Sun and the solar wind fluxes which affect the Earth. It will also take the very first images of the polar regions of the Sun, thus providing important data on the still poorly understood magnetic environment of these areas which play a key role in the 11-year solar cycle and in regular waves of solar storms. This mission will be complementary to the Parker Solar Probe (Nasa) mission launched in August 2018 to approach the Sun like no other probe has ever done. It will then be able to study in situ the outermost part of the solar corona and a little beyond, when the heliosphere begins. Its information should make it possible to better understand the famous problem of the heating of the solar corona as well as the origin of the wind and solar flares.
The Solar Orbiter probe with, in the foreground, its heat shield designed to withstand temperatures of over 500 ° C. © ESA, S. Corvaja
Closer to the Sun!
To carry out their mission, these two probes have in common to approach distances very close to the Sun. At its perigee, or 0.28 astronomical units (42 million km), Solar Orbiter will be closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury, in an orbit allowing it to exit the ecliptic plane. To reach this position and reach its orbit above the poles of the Sun, Solar Orbiter will perform a complex series of revolutions, using the gravitational assistance of Venus and the Earth. As for the American, Parker Solar Probe, it will get even closer! If, in November 2018, the NASA probe flew over the Sun some 24 million kilometers away, in 2024, it will approach approximately six million kilometers from the "surface" of the Sun. A record!
At these distances, the heat shields of the two probes will be put to the test. Solar Orbiter will have to resist temperatures of more than 500 ° C while Parker Solar Orbiter, closer to the Sun, will have to resist temperatures of more or less 1.600 ° C.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
• The European Solar Orbiter probe will be launched in February 2020 for the Sun for an eight-year mission.
• Closer to the Sun, Solar Orbiter will be approximately 42 million kilometers away.
• A distance necessary to study the Sun in order to better understand its effects on the Solar System.
Solar Orbiter: a probe close to the Sun designed by Airbus DS
Rémy Decourt article
Published on 03/30/2015
Archives
A few days ago, an important stage in the development of the Solar Orbiter probe was reached with the end of the construction of the structural model of the satellite and its heat shield. This test model will be tested at IABG's facilities in Munich, to ensure that this future satellite will fulfill its daunting mission. Indeed, it must approach only 42 million kilometers from the Sun. It is only after these tests, and others which take place in the Technical Center of the European Space Agency (Estec), that Airbus Defense and Space, in charge of the program, will start construction of the flight model.
The construction of Solar Orbiter, which must approach the Sun like no other device has ever done before, is progressing. Indeed, the probe designed by> Airbus Defense and Space on behalf of the European Space Agency (Esa) will risk up to 42 million km from the surface of our Star. To date, the distance record near the Sun is held by Helios de la Nasa, which had approached it some 43.5 million km, on April 17, 1976. Even if it exceeds it, that of Solar Orbiter does not will not last long, because it will be sprayed in 2024 by Nasa's Solar Probe Plus, which should approach it only 6.3 million km.
As explained to us by Orlane Bergogne, operations architect of the Solar Orbiter program, when Esa selected the mission in May 2012, “the thermal protection of the probe as well as the magnetic and molecular neutrality required to be able to perform efficiently the most sensitive scientific measures ”were the two main technological hard points that determined the success of the mission or not.
Three years later, its development has advanced well. The hard spots at the start gave way to technological choices. While some of them are new, others are derived from the BepiColombo mission, destined for Mercury. This is what Nicolas Croisard, Solar Orbiter system engineer at Airbus Defense and Space, explains to us.
The structural model of the Solar Orbiter satellite's heat shield, seen here in March 2015 at the Stevenage facility. © Airbus Defense & Space
Thus, concerning thermal protection, the Solar Orbiter solar panels are "based, in large part, on the technology developed by Airbus Defense and Space for BepiColombo", because the temperatures reached are similar to those of this probe. When it is in orbit around Mercury, the face exposed to the Sun will have to resist temperatures higher than 300 ° C and some specific thermal exposures of the large antenna can reach 400 ° C or more are planned. As for Solar Orbiter, "we expect temperature peaks of around 600 ° C". The antennas, and in particular the high gain antenna used to transmit data to Earth at long distance (up to almost two astronomical units), are also similar to those developed for BepiColombo.
In addition to the materials used, the satellite's thermal protection is based on the heat shield with an innovative design "based on two layers of thermal protection, one at very high temperature, the other more conventional", separated by an empty space allowing dissipation a significant part of the heat on the sides. The shield is also "separated from the rest of the satellite by another empty space", further increasing heat dissipation. This concept allows "the temperature behind the shield to be at a reasonable level of 80 ° C, against more than 500 ° C for the surface of the shield". Solar Orbiter thus benefits from the unrivaled expertise developed by Airbus Defense and Space in the field of shields.
Like almost all interplanetary exploration missions, "new technologies have been developed specifically for Solar Orbiter". We can cite in particular the development of “outer layers resistant to extreme temperatures (SolarBlack for the heat shield) or industrial processes to deposit them (PVD, for Physical Vapor Deposition)”.
Study the Sun without burning the satellite
"The magnetic and molecular neutrality required to be able to efficiently carry out scientific measurements and in particular to allow the most precise possible measurement of the magnetic field generated by the Sun" is the other strong constraint which results from this proximity to the Sun. Thus, some instruments will be "mounted on an arm that deploys after launch". Great care has also been taken "to systematically measure the electromagnetic footprint of all existing equipment or minimize it for new equipment". Finally, some equipment is surrounded by shielding to further limit the electromagnetic signature of the satellite.
Another critical point is “the definition and validation of the survival modes of the satellite”. They allow the satellite to be saved in the event of serious breakdowns. It consists of an attitude control mode where the satellite is kept pointed towards the sun so that it does not break down in electricity.
In the case of Solar Orbiter, there is obviously no question of pointing it directly in front of the Sun like a satellite around the Earth or another planet. This is why the “extremely fine control of the attitude of the satellite” is one of the special features of the mission, since a deviation error greater than 6.5 ° and “the survival of the satellite is at stake”. Thus, "several monitoring units are used to guarantee the rapid detection of deviations". In the event of an anomaly, "the system is able to react extremely quickly, thus keeping the body of the satellite in the shadow of the heat shield". The system is such that after an anomaly, an “autonomous return to nominal mode [where scientific observations are made] is possible, without waiting for the intervention of the control center”.
F I N .
