Solar Orbiter Orbit Views (Pre-launch and Post-launch versions)

During its closest approaches of the Sun, Solar Orbiter will travel fast enough to study how magnetically active regions evolve for up to four weeks at a time. Solar Orbiter will return the first images and measurements of the Sun’s polar magnetic field, helping scientists relate the poles to the solar activity cycle.Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will present Solar Orbiter, the ESA/NASA mission to the Sun, during a science press briefing on Friday, Feb. 7. 2020, at 2.30 p.m. EST. Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout our solar system. The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun’s poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.The teleconference audio will stream live at:https://www.nasa.gov/liveParticipants include:European Space Agency• Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist• Günther Hasinger, Director of ScienceNASA• Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division Director, NASA HQ• Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ Solar Orbiter orbiting the Sun. Over its seven-year mission, the spacecraft will go as close as 26 million miles from the Sun.Credit: NASA s Scientific Visualization Studio/Tom Bridgman Animation showing the deployment of the boom and antennas. Solar Orbiter carries a comprehensive suite of 10 instruments that take both in situ and remote measurements.Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab Animation of a coronal mass ejection impacting Mars, Earth, and Jupiter. Solar Orbiter is equipped to image such eruptions as they burst from the Sun, and measure the eruption directly as it passes the spacecraft.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab/Bailee DesRocher Image of NASA’s heliophysics observatory fleet. Credit: NASA Image of the European Space Agency’s solar system explorers. Credit: ESA Animation of the Artemis program’s lunar lander concept. Credit: NASA

This visualization opens near Earth for the launch of Parker Solar Probe August 12, 2018. Then the camera moves around the Sun to match of with Earth again for the launch of Solar Orbiter in 2020. After that, the camera moves in a slow drift around the Sun as the orbits evolve. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. This version has longer orbit trails to better view orbit changes, and the red along the orbits indicate the nominal science operations portions of the missions. The next missions scheduled for detailed studies of the Sun and solar atmosphere are Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter.Parker Solar Probe, launched August 12, 2018, moves in a highly-elliptical orbit, using gravity-assists from Venus to move the orbit perihelion closer to the Sun with each pass. The goal is to get the spacecraft to fly through the corona at a distance of 9.5 solar radii. Primary science operations are conducted when the spacecraft is within 0.25 astronomical units (AUs) from the Sun, so that portion of the orbit is colored red. The nominal end of mission for Parker Solar Probe is 2025, so the orbit fades away after that year. Solar Orbiter uses a series of Earth and Venus gravity assists to move its orbit perihelion (the closest distance from the Sun) to a distance inside the orbit of Mercury for detailed solar monitoring. The primary science operations for Solar Orbiter are conducted when the spacecraft is within 0.5 AUs from the Sun. This visualization opens near Earth for the launch of Parker Solar Probe on August 12, 2018. Then the camera moves around the Sun to match of with Earth again for the launch of Solar Orbiter in 2020. After that, the camera moves to a third position as the orbits evolve. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. This visualization has a fixed camera oblique view of the inner solar system to observe the orbits of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. This visualization has a fixed camera view of the inner solar system above the ecliptic to observe the orbits of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. This visualization presents a wide view of the orbit of Parker Solar Probe. The visualizations below were generated before the launch of Parker Solar Probe, assuming a launch date of July 31. 2018. They are included here for reference. PRELAUNCH VERSION. Generated assuming launch was July 31, 2018. This visualization opens near Earth for the launch of Parker Solar Probe at the end of July 2018. Then the camera moves around the Sun to match of with Earth again for the launch of Solar Orbiter in 2020. After that, the camera moves in a slow drift around the Sun as the orbits evolve. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. This version has longer orbit trails to better view orbit changes, and the red along the orbits indicate the nominal science operations portions of the missions. PRELAUNCH VERSION. Generated assuming launch was July 31, 2018. This visualization opens near Earth for the launch of Parker Solar Probe at the end of July 2018. Then the camera moves around the Sun to match of with Earth again for the launch of Solar Orbiter in 2020. After that, the camera moves to a third position as the orbits evolve. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. PRELAUNCH VERSION. Generated assuming launch was July 31, 2018. This visualization has a fixed camera oblique view of the inner solar system to observe the orbits of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. PRELAUNCH VERSION. Generated assuming launch was July 31, 2018. This visualization has a fixed camera view of the inner solar system above the ecliptic to observe the orbits of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter. The Parker Solar Probe orbit fades out after the nominal end of mission in 2025. PRELAUNCH VERSION. Generated assuming launch was July 31, 2018. This visualization presents a wide view of the orbit of Parker Solar Probe.