On March 26, 2022, the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft successfully completed its first close pass through the Sun\u2019s corona, bringing the spacecraft\u2019s specially-designed collection of instruments closer to the Sun than ever before.<\/p>\n
During the close pass, called perihelion, all ten of Solar Orbiter\u2019s instruments operated simultaneously, working together to gather important, never-before-seen data. The flyby brought Solar Orbiter less than one-third of the distance from the Sun to the Earth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Solar Orbiter\u2019s historic perihelion<\/p>\n
Solar Orbiter launched on February 9, 2020, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. Since being released by the rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage, Solar Orbiter has been traveling through interplanetary space in a heliocentric orbit.<\/p>\n
In order to lower its perihelion \u2014 the point in its orbit closest to the Sun \u2014 Solar Orbiter needs to perform several gravity assists with Earth and Venus to achieve a targeted perihelion of 0.28 AU. Additionally, these gravity assist maneuvers help raise the inclination of Solar Orbiter\u2019s orbit, allowing the spacecraft to provide the first views of the Sun\u2019s uncharted polar regions. During its primary mission, Solar Orbiter\u2019s orbital inclination will increase from 0\u00b0 to 24\u00b0.<\/p>\n
On June 15, 2020, Solar Orbiter made its first close pass of the Sun. At the time of this first close pass, Solar Orbiter\u2019s perihelion was only 77 million kilometers, around the halfway point between the Sun and Earth. During this first perihelion, Solar Orbiter teams tested each of the spacecraft\u2019s ten instruments, imaging the Sun and collecting a plethora of data on the Sun\u2019s unique processes<\/p>\n<\/p>\n