Precursor Missions to SolO
Solar Orbiter (SolO) will be a sun-orbiting satellite whose key research goals centre around the questions of how is the Heliosphere created and controlled by the sun. To help answer this question it will be investigating solar wind formation in the corona, solar transients and eruptions and the solar dynamo. SolO is far from the first sun-focused satellite, and its research will build on that of several very successful missions in the past. These include, but are by no means limited to; the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO), a joint ESA and NASA mission whose aim was to investigate the outer and inner layers of the sun and observe the solar winds; the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), a NASA mission which took numerous pictures of the photosphere and transition region; Ulysses, another ESA/NASA mission which studied, among other things, the solar winds; and Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), a mission to study coronal mass ejections. In this report we will look at these four missions and their contributions to the SolO mission.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is an ongoing mission which, despite being plagued by issues, has been active for more than 16 years past its initial 2 year life-span. [1] First launched in 1995 as a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission, its primary goal was the investigation of the various layers of the sun and their contributions to solar winds and heliophysics in general. SoHO was outfitted with a suite of instruments including UV cameras, spectrographs and interferometers. Among these, one of the most active instruments was the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI). This instrument images osci...
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Conclusion
To conclude, it is clear that every space mission must both build on the knowledge and experience gained from previous missions, as well as learn from the difficulties and challenges posed by its predecessors, whether they be in establishing orbit, communications or calamities such as that faced by SoHO. Solar Orbiter will use all the information available from these four missions in order to be successful.
References
[1] http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/about/docs/SOHO_Fact_Sheet.pdf Accessed on 27/02/2014
[2] Fleck, Müller, Haugan, Duarte & Siili, 10 years of SoHO ESA Science Bulletin.
[3] Solar Orbiter Definition Study Report, ESA, 2011.
[4] http://trace.lmsal.com/Project/Mission/mission.htm TRACE Mission Description website. Accessed on 28/02/2014
[5] http://trace.lmsal.com/POD/TRACEpodarchive24.html Accessed on 01/3/2014
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO for short is a cooperative joint effort by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The main mission of this project is to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive upper atmosphere, as well as to determine the origin and characteristics of the solar wind.
Our sun is the central pivot point to which or entire planet and solar system is built around. With out it all life on our planet would cease to exist. Within this paper we will explore how our Sun and solar system formed and came to resemble what we see today.
Dyson, Marianne J. Space and Astronomy: Decade by Decade. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 14+. Print.
The debate about space exploration has been raging on for decades, people on both sides of the issue vehemently arguing their point of view. However despite the possible risk space exploration has the potential to change humanity for the better, and doing so is well worth the risk. This essay will elaborate some of the plethora of ways that space exploration could benefit mankind.
AFCEA COPERNICUS Award Winner 2015 - NCTS Far East Detachment Sasebo BCO Mr. Andy Schrader.
Redd, Nola T. "Space and NASA News – Universe and Deep Space Information | Space.com." Space.com. Space.com, 08 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Essentially, there are two basic categories of spacecraft, inter-solar system spacecraft and extra-solar system spacecraft. The difference between the two spacecraft categories is inter-solar system spacecraft travel within our solar system only, and extra-solar system spacecraft travel between our solar system and other stars. This paper does not discuss extra-solar system spacecraft because the technology to travel from our Sun to other stars in our galaxy and back again has not even reached the infancy stage.
Space exploration has came along ways since the first launch. Many break throughs and technological advances have occurred since the begging of our time of exploration in space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA has helped further the research that has been done in space. This was accomplished by multiple missions to and from space, with different types of spacecrafts. Although some missions had fatalities, each was a learning experience to advance further in the studies of space.
Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004
V. [Thesis and Preview] I would like to inform and attempt to condense the topic of space exploration, whose scope and scale is as limitless as the universe itself. I'd like to start by giving attention to unmanned spaceflight, looking into a few notable discoveries made by these technologies. I will then bring together how these findings have fueled the desire for a continual presence of mankind in space, which can seen through the inception of the International Space Station.
Human minds cannot comprehend how colossal an idea like space is. To obtain a firmer understanding of what or who is floating around up there, scientists all around the world invest their entire fortune and lives into exploring the unknown. Many explorations have proven successful in expanding human knowledge about space, but Skylab, America’s first space station, has demonstrated triumphant in three different space missions documenting the foreign world (Dunbar, “Part I”). Skylab Space Station was a revolutionary development in the history of space exploration with its many missions and daily life for its astronauts.
... You can think of solar winds as the external corona in an episode of continuous expansion. The solar wind is made of pretty much the same material as the lower corona or photosphere of the sun. Solar winds usually have lots of Hydrogen because Hydrogen tends to be attracted to solar winds. This is much unlike Helium because Helium is not attracted to solar winds. The sun loses little bits of energy because solar winds take atom parts (protons, and electrons) from it. Solar winds take over 1,000,000 tons worth of mass from the sun every second, but our sun’s mass is so much that this much mass is considered pretty much nothing. The sun’s heliosphere is taken over by solar winds. The solar winds have less and less pressure as it gets farther and farther from the sun. At 100 AU from the sun the solar winds cannot balance on their own because it is interstellar space.
When considering this topic, one might ask themselves why explore space? We explore space to compare other planets with the earth and to study the sun, to explore the universe while finding if intelligent life exists, for satellites to improve communications, weather forecasting, navigation, resource monitoring, and “to create a focal point for a new intellectual renaissance” (Ruzic).
Just fifty-five miles more, and Dad and I would finally be at our campsite. We were trekking by car to Tennessee from our home in New York City, in pursuit of the first total solar eclipse to span the mainland U.S. in a century. This trip was just the latest of countless science-centered experiences Dad and I have shared, but, given the intense summer heat and the distance we needed to travel to be in the path of totality, it was certainly the most challenging. When our little Honda, packed to bursting with tents, camping gear, food, water, cameras, binoculars, a refracting telescope, and, of course, Mylar sheets (the latter “essentials” - Dad said - for safely looking at the sun), had lurched out of our driveway forty-eight hours earlier,