Watch NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter Mission First Image Release – Closer to Sun That Any Spacecraft in History

ESA Solar Orbiter

ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission will face the Sun from within the orbit of Mercury at its closest approach. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Scientists from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) will release the first data captured by Solar Orbiter, the joint ESA/NASA mission to study the Sun, during an online news briefing at 8 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 16. The briefing will stream live on NASA’s website.

In mid-June, Solar Orbiter made its first close pass of the Sun following its February 9 launch, turning on all 10 of its instruments together for the first time. This flyby captured the closest images ever taken of the Sun. During the briefing, mission experts will discuss what these closeup images reveal about our star, including what we can learn from Solar Orbiter’s new measurements of particles and magnetic fields flowing from the Sun.

Participants in the briefing include:

  • Daniel Müller – Solar Orbiter Project Scientist at ESA
  • Holly R. Gilbert – Solar Orbiter Project Scientist at NASA
  • José Luis Pellón Bailón – Solar Orbiter Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager at ESA
  • David Berghmans – Principal investigator of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) at the Royal Observatory of Belgium
  • Sami Solanki – Principal investigator of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) and director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
  • Christopher J. Owen – Principal investigator of the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) at Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London

2 Comments on "Watch NASA/ESA Solar Orbiter Mission First Image Release – Closer to Sun That Any Spacecraft in History"

  1. Paul Sinkovitz | July 18, 2020 at 10:13 am | Reply

    By the photos there are the same basic facts that the wind blowes from west to east in the northern hemispheres and east to west in the south. By the likes of the Star of David the symbolism is true.

  2. Paul Sinkovitz | July 18, 2020 at 10:17 am | Reply

    Does anyone know what I’m saying? G-O-D GEOMETRY, ORDER, DIMENSION.

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