THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SOLAR EXPLORATION

There have been many satellites launched to investigate the Sun’s activity, the first dating back to 1960 with NASA’s Pioneer 5 spacecraft. Since then, instruments, engineering and our understanding of the solar environment have drastically improved. A few missions that have shaped understanding include NASA and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission – with collaboration from NASA and the United Kingdom – called Hinode.

On 12 August 2018, NASA launched its Parker Solar Probe (PSP), breaking boundaries when it comes to scrutinising the Sun. At its closest approach the PSP will travel within the Sun’s atmosphere at a distance of 3.8 million miles. This mission carries with it four specially designed instrumental suites that look to answer questions about the corona and solar wind while experiencing temperatures of roughly 1,377 degrees Celsius (2,500 degrees Fahrenheit).

In 2020, the ESA launched its Solar Orbiter to get close to the Sun (but not as close as the PSP) at a distance of 41.8 million kilometres (26 million miles). The main difference is that the Solar Orbiter will utilise the gravity of Venus to swing it into a greater inclination, potentially as high as 33 degrees. This will allow it to probe the poles of the Sun, a feat that has never before been accomplished by any other spacecraft.