ESA's Solar Orbiter commences Solar Mission after safe flyby through Earth's debris cloud

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter has begun its real science mission as it now heads towards the sun after a daring flyby through the Earth's debris cloud on November 27. The solar probe skimmed past our planet around 10 am (IST) at an altitude of just 460 km above North Africa and the Canary Islands. Launched in February 2020, the Orbiter aims to take the closest-ever images of the sun, its polar regions and measure the composition of the solar wind and its area of origin on the Sun’s surface.

The Orbiter will make 50 million km close solar pass next year

The Solar Orbiter, which is the most complex scientific laboratory ever to have been sent to the Sun, will reach as close as 50 million kilometres to the sun in March 2022. According to the ESA, the orbiter has been developed to help scientists solve the mysteries that reside in the star nearest to our planet. The agency states that the orbiter will do so with its six remote-sensing instruments and four sets of in situ instruments, data of which will be combined to determine the cause of the sun's 11-year cycle of rising and subsiding magnetic activity. Moreover, the scientists also aim to determine how the sun's upper layer reaches millions of degrees Celsius and how are solar wind-generated. In the end, it will all come down to the factors regarding our planet as the Orbiter will also provide crucial information on the cause of solar wind acceleration and its impact on Earth.

Solar Orbiter's Earth flyby

While the scientists were worried about the Orbiter's collision with pieces of space debris, the probe easily cruised through the junk cloud. Speculations were being made about possible harm to the probe as the recent anti-satellite missile test by Russia produced a thick cloud of space debris that made the already risky flyby even riskier. The experts were even planning a last-minute manoeuvre in case the probe gets on a collision course with a junk piece, something which would have made the flyby less efficient due to a 20 kilometre-diversion off the original path. 

Although, the Orbiter exited the Earth's orbit smoothly, leaving behind a spectacle that was adored by stargazers. Have a look at the flyby captured by those who were tracking the Orbiter's path.

Image: Twitter/@ESA