Sun explorer spacecraft set for launch
by Staff Writers
London, UK (SPX) Feb 07, 2020

Engineers at Airbus in Stevenage designed and built the spacecraft to withstand the scorching heat from the Sun that will hit one side, while the other is frozen as the orbit keeps it in shadow. It will face intense solar radiation that is 13 times more powerful than that in Earth's orbit. The design is based on ESA's BepiColombo mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, which launched in 2018 with significant involvement from UK engineers and scientists.
The UK-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft is set to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4am on Monday, 10 February (GMT).

{4AM GMT= 11PM EST Sunday}

The mission will take the most detailed images ever of the Sun and provide crucial information about how our star's volatile activity affects its atmosphere. This knowledge will help improve predictions of space weather events, which can disrupt and damage satellites and infrastructure on Earth.

Full report here:
[link to www.spacedaily.com]

Dr.Astro is following this launch closely. Subscribe to his channel Astronomy Live if you haven't already.



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