Solar Orbiter: from Europe to Florida preparing for the liftoff.

The ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission recently completed its test campaign in Europe and flew to Cape Canaveral, landing on November 1st.

Solar Orbiter in the test center,
Solar Orbiter in the test center Credits : T. Horbury, Imperial College London

After the launch, expected on the beginning of February 2020, the Solar Orbiter will follow an elliptical path around the Sun, learning more about the Sun-Earth connection and providing new perspectives on our star, including the first images of the Sun’s polar regions.

Solar Orbiter houses 10 innovative instruments and Italy directly participates in the development of some of these instruments: the X-ray Spectometer, the Solar Wind Plasma Analyser, the Coronagraph.

In particular Sanitas EG cooperated with National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF),  in the development of Photon Counting Unit (PCU), a module integrated in Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy (METIS), the Coronagraph of the Solar Orbiter.


See supplementary information:
Solar Orbiter è pronto a lasciare l’Europa
Solar Orbiter arrives at Kennedy Space Center for launch preps
Staring at the sun