Solar Orbiter's Orbit
An animation showing the trajectory of Solar Orbiter around the Sun, highlighting the gravity assist manoeuvres that will enable the spacecraft to change inclination to observe the Sun from different perspectives.
During the initial cruise phase, which lasts until November 2021, Solar Orbiter will perform two gravity-assist manoeuvres around Venus and one around Earth to alter the spacecraft’s trajectory, guiding it towards the innermost regions of the Solar System. At the same time, Solar Orbiter will acquire in situ data and characterise and calibrate its remote-sensing instruments. The first close solar pass will take place in 2022 at around a third of Earth’s distance from the Sun.
The spacecraft’s orbit has been chosen to be ‘in resonance’ with Venus, which means that it will return to the planet’s vicinity every few orbits and can again use the planet’s gravity to alter or tilt its orbit. Initially Solar Orbiter will be confined to the same plane as the planets, but each encounter of Venus will increase its orbital inclination. For example, after the 2025 Venus encounter it will make its first solar pass at 17º inclination, increasing to 33º during a proposed mission extension phase, bringing even more of the polar regions into direct view.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Support
- Emily Baldwin (EJR-Quartz for ESA)
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Related pages
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ID: 13505 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter - ESA Animations
Read moreSolar Orbiter is an European Space Agency (ESA) mission with strong NASA participation. Its mission is to perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun and from high-latitudes, providing the first images of the uncharted polar regions of the Sun, and investigating the Sun-Earth connection. || Spacecraft separation - GIF Visualization of the separation of Solar Orbiter from the Atlas V upper stage about 53 minutes after launch. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab || Spacecraft separation - Video Visualization of the separation of Solar Orbiter from the Atlas V upper stage about 53 minutes after launch. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab ||
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ID: 13527 Produced Video
![VideoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: “Oxide” and “Virtual Tidings” by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS]; “Progressive Practice” by Emmanuel David Lipszc [SACEM], Franck Lascombes [SACEM], Sebastien Lipszyc [SACEM]; “Political Spectrum” by Laurent Dury [SACEM} from Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available.](/vis/a010000/a013500/a013527/13537_SolarOrbiterOverview_YouTube.00725_print.jpg)
New Mission Will Take First Peek at Sun’s Poles
Read moreA new spacecraft is journeying to the Sun to snap the first pictures of the Sun’s north and south poles. Solar Orbiter, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA will have its first opportunity to launch from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2020, at 11:15 p.m. EST. Launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the spacecraft will use Venus’ and Earth’s gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane — the swath of space, roughly aligned with the Sun’s equator, where all planets orbit. From there, Solar Orbiter's bird’s eye view will give it the first-ever look at the Sun's poles.Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/new-mission-will-take-first-peek-at-sun-s-poles ||
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