Imperial team prepares for mission to the Sun
Imperial involved in ESA mission to improve our understanding of solar wind
A team of researchers from the Space and Atmospheric Physics group have reached a new milestone in their mission to study the sun’s magnetic field.
Solar Orbiter is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission that hopes to improve our understanding of the solar wind, a stream of plasma that is released from the atmosphere of the sun. The spacecraft, which will be launched from Cape Canaveral in October 2018, will travel closer to the sun than any mission ever before.
The seven year mission will carry several instruments to analyse and measure the solar wind, including a magnetometer designed and built by the Imperial team, lead by Principal Investigator Professor Tim Horbury.
A test model of the magnetometer was recently sent to Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, where the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is being constructed.
The spacecraft must be capable of withstanding both scorching heat on the surface that faces the sun and the coldness of space on the opposite side, which will always be shaded from the star. The magnetometer must also cope with the strong vibrations during the launch of the NASA rocket which will carry Solar Orbiter into space.
Once in orbit around the sun, the project team will be able to make precise measurements of the heliospheric magnetic field, which is key to understanding the origins of the solar wind. Ultimately the Solar Orbiter mission aims to provide insight into the sun’s effects on the rest of the solar system.
