Solar Orbiter (SolO) – Atlas V 411 – Canaveral SLC-41 – 10.02.2020 – 07:05 ДМВ

[tnt22]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/how-esa-nasa-solar-orbiter-beats-the-heat-shield-sun

Feb. 4, 2020

How ESA-NASA's Solar Orbiter Beats the Heat

When Solar Orbiter launches on its journey to the Sun, there's one key piece of engineering making this ESA-NASA mission possible: the heat shield.

Seeking a view of the Sun's north and south poles, Solar Orbiter will journey out of the ecliptic plane — the belt of space, roughly in line with the Sun's equator, through which the planets orbit. Slinging repeatedly past Venus in order to draw near the Sun and climb higher above the ecliptic, the spacecraft bounds from the Sun and back toward the orbit of Earth throughout its mission.

"Although Solar Orbiter goes quite close to the Sun, it also goes quite far away," said Anne Pacros, the payload manager at the European Space Agency's, or ESA's, European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. "We have to survive both high heat and extreme cold." In the dark of space, Solar Orbiter faces temperatures of minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit. At closest approach, 26 million miles from the Sun, it will encounter intense heat and radiation.

But Solar Orbiter's 324-pound heat shield reflects and guides heat away from the spacecraft and can withstand up to 970 F.


The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is prepared for encapsulation in the Atlas V payload fairing. In this image, the front layer of thin titanium foil and star-shaped brackets are visible. The front layer reflects heat, while the brackets provide support.
Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The heat shield is built like a 10-foot-by-8-foot sandwich. The front layer — wafer-thin sheets of titanium foil — strongly reflects heat. A honeycomb-patterned aluminum base, covered in more foil insulation, forms the inner slice closest to the spacecraft and provides support.

Star-shaped titanium brackets keep the layers in place, like a toothpick tasked to hold bread together, but notably, this sandwich is missing its filling. The nearly 10-inch gap in the shield funnels heat out to space. A smaller, second gap lies between the inner slice and the spacecraft. Overall, the shield is 15 inches thick. It also has several eyes: peepholes for five of the spacecraft's remote-sensing instruments to peer through.

Solar Orbiter's heat shield is coated with a thin, black layer of calcium phosphate, a charcoal-like powder much like pigments used in cave paintings thousands of years ago.

"It's funny that something as technologically advanced as this is actually very old," Pacros said. But the coating resists degradation under the blow of intense solar ultraviolet radiation. Although the black powder does absorb some heat, it's excellent at shedding that heat back out to space.

Solar Orbiter also has to contend with its own heat. Its instruments work up a sweat while they're running; panels of radiators on the side of the spacecraft eject heat and ensure the instruments don't get too hot.

Tight control of the spacecraft's position and tilt is key to protecting the instruments. Once the spacecraft is past the 88-million-mile mark in its solar flybys — that's 95% of the distance between the Sun and Earth — the heat shield must be pointed straight at the Sun. That means Solar Orbiter will crab walk through space, keeping the spacecraft and instruments tucked in the heat shield's shadow.

Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between the European Space Agency and NASA. ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands manages the development effort. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Germany will operate Solar Orbiter after launch. Solar Orbiter was built by Airbus Defence and Space, and contains 10 instruments: nine provided by ESA member states and ESA. NASA provided one instrument (SoloHI) and an additional sensor, the Heavy Ion Sensor, which is part of the Solar Wind Analyzer (SWA) instrument suite.

Banner image: An animation of Solar Orbiter peering at the Sun through peepholes in its heat shield. Credits: ESA/ATG medialab

Related: 
New Mission Will Take First Peek at Sun's Poles

By Lina Tran
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Last Updated: Feb. 4, 2020
Editor: Lina Tran

[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды L-4 на 9 февраляя 2020 г.

Atlas V AV-087 Solar Orbiter L-4 5 Feb

Пусковой день    (09.02) - = 80 % GO
Резервный день (10.02) - = 70 % GO

[tnt22]

ESA's Solar Orbiter@ESASolarOrbiter 7:56 PM - Feb 5, 2020

Packed for launch: Check our photogallery of #SolarOrbiter being integrated into the Atlas V rocket fairing during launch preparations at Kennedy Space Center in Florida:
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=solar%2Borbiter&result_type=images ...
#weareallsolarorbiters

[tnt22]

Tory Bruno✔@torybruno 3:44 AM - Feb 6, 2020

Another good day of progress for #SolarOrbiter  . Doors installed. FTS and other tests successfully completed. Let's light this candle

[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды L-3 на 9 февраля 2020 г.

Atlas V AV-087 Solar Orbiter L-3 6 Feb

Пусковой день    (09.02) - = 80 % GO
Резервный день (10.02) - = 70 % GO
Резервный день (11.02) -     80 % GO

[tnt22]

Feb 06 18:17
Weather still 80% GO

The launch weather forecast continues to project an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for Sunday night's liftoff.

"For MLP roll day on Saturday, high pressure remains bringing a pleasant day with dry weather, light winds and near average temperatures.

"For Sunday evening, high pressure moves off the southeast coast turning the winds onshore from the east. This will bring a few clouds but precipitation chances are near zero. Therefore, the primary concern for launch is the Cumulus Cloud Rule," the weather team reports.

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2020/02/06/tune-in-friday-for-solar-orbiter-briefings/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2020/02/06/tune-in-friday-for-solar-orbiter-briefings/

Tune in Friday for Solar Orbiter Briefings

Anna Heiney
Posted Feb 6, 2020 at 3:31 pm


ESA/NASA's Solar Orbiter will travel inside the orbit of Mercury and capture the first images of the Sun's north and south poles. Image Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab

Solar Orbiter, an international collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, is slated to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Sunday, Feb. 9. Liftoff is targeted for 11:03 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Two briefings are planned for Friday, Feb. 7, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center:

1 to 2 p.m. EST: Prelaunch news conference
Participants:

[/li]
• Tim Dunn, Launch Director, NASA Launch Services Program
  
• Cesar Garcia, Solar Orbiter Project Manager, European Space Agency
  
• Haydée M. Maldonado, NASA Solar Orbiter Collaboration (SOC) Project Manager, Goddard Space Flight Center
  
• Ian Walters, Project Manager Solar Orbiter, Airbus Defence and Space
  
• Scott Messer, NASA LSP Program Manager, United Launch Alliance
  
• Jessica Williams, 45th Space Wing Weather Officer
  

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. EST: Science briefing
Participants:

[/li]
• Daniel Mueller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist, European Space Agency
  
• Nicky Fox, Director, NASA Heliophysics Division
  
• Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate
  
• Guenther Hasinger, Director of Science, European Space Agency
  

View on NASA Television or on the web at https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive.

Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout the solar system. The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun's poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun's 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.

[tnt22]

Опубликована

Airspace Closure Area

[tnt22]

Полигон открыт

[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды L-2 на 9 февраля 2020 г.

Atlas V AV-087 Solar Obiter L-2 7 Feb

Пусковой день    (09.02) - = 80 % GO
Резервный день (10.02) - = 70 % GO
Резервный день (11.02) - = 80 % GO

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2020/02/07/launch-weather-forecast-80-favorable-televised-briefings-today/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2020/02/07/solar-orbiter-launch-weather-forecast-80-favorable-televised-briefings-today/

Launch Weather Forecast 80% Favorable; Televised Briefings Today

Anna Heiney
Posted Feb 7, 2020 at 10:54 am


Solar Orbiter will capture the very first images of the Sun's polar regions, where magnetic tension builds up and releases in a lively dance. Launching in 2020, Solar Orbiter's study of the Sun will shed light on its magnetic structure and the many forces that shape solar activity.
Credits: Spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; Sun: NASA/SDO/P. Testa (CfA)

Weather forecasters with the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for the launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Liftoff is slated for Sunday, Feb. 9, at 11:03 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The primary weather concerns at launch time are potential violation of the cumulus cloud rule and ground winds.

Launch and mission managers from the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and ULA are meeting at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch readiness review. This is a standard prelaunch review in which all parties review outstanding items and ensure the rocket, spacecraft and teams are "go" for launch.

Two televised briefings are planned for today:

1 to 2 p.m. EST: Prelaunch news conference
Participants:

[/li]
• Tim Dunn, Launch Director, NASA Launch Services Program
  
• Cesar Garcia, Solar Orbiter Project Manager, European Space Agency
  
• Alan Zide, Solar Orbiter Program Executive, NASA Headquarters
  
• Ian Walters, Project Manager Solar Orbiter, Airbus Defence and Space
  
• Scott Messer, NASA LSP Program Manager, United Launch Alliance
  
• Jessica Williams, 45th Space Wing Weather Officer
  

2:30 to 3:30 p.m. EST: Science briefing
Participants:

[/li]
• Daniel Mueller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist, European Space Agency
  
• Nicky Fox, Director, NASA Heliophysics Division
  
• Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate
  
• Guenther Hasinger, Director of Science, European Space Agency
  

View on NASA Television or on the web at https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive.

An international collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout the solar system. The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun's poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun's 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.

[tnt22]

Solar Orbiter launch preparations
Доступ по ссылке

European Space Agency, ESA

7 февр. 2020 г.

ESA's Solar Orbiter satellite in a cleanroom at the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. The spacecraft is seen being mounted onto the payload adaptor ring and encapsulated into a fairing, which will protect the satellite and the rocket upper stage during the turbulent ascent through Earth's atmosphere.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/leSXPOZwqJU (1:04)

[tnt22]

Tory Bruno✔@torybruno 6:29 PM - Feb 7, 2020

#SolarOrbiter looking good for the 9th. Mission Dress Rehearsals complete along with the system certification review and the ICD final verification. Let's go to the sun.

[tnt22]

Feb 07 19:34

Launch Readiness Review completed

The Launch Readiness Review (LRR) has been given the "go" to press ahead with Sunday's liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Solar Orbiter for the European Space Agency and NASA's Launch Services Program.


Liftoff is scheduled for 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The LRR, led by NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn, was completed this morning in the Mission Briefing Room at Kennedy Space Center's Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building.

Leadership from ULA, NASA and the U.S. Space Force assessed the readiness of the rocket, payload and mission assets, discussed the status of pre-flight processing work, heard technical overviews of the countdown and flight, and previewed the weather forecast, which remains unchanged with an 80 percent chance of good conditions.

At the conclusion of the meeting, senior leaders were polled and gave a unanimous ready status for launch, then signed the Launch Readiness Certificate.

Solar Orbiter will fly 26 million miles (42 million km) from the sun and use its 10 instruments to study our life-sustaining star. Scientists will use the data collected over the next decade to examine how the heliosphere is generated and is accelerated, probe what is driving the solar wind and investigate what causes the sun to vary in behavior over the 11-year solar cycle.

United Launch Alliance will offer live reports from the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center in our automatically-refreshing blog during the Atlas V's rollout to the launch pad on Saturday, plus provide comprehensive countdown coverage beginning Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. EST (2100 UTC), with continuing commentary all the way to the spacecraft separation about an hour after liftoff.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]