The solar orbiter passed a record-breaking close to Earth.  'The most dangerous maneuver ever'

The Solar Orbiter is located after the Parker Solar Prob, another space probe that aims to study the Sun with precision. She started her mission In February 2020And now the ship has performed Next flight above the ground. He was in the middle of the maneuver Only 460 km from our planet. For comparison, the International Space Station orbits at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.

The maneuvering was very difficult. The European Space Agency says that’s it The most dangerous voyage of this type of scientific mission in history. This was due to the fact that the solar module had to “break through” the cosmic debris orbiting the Earth.

Now, the Solar Orbiter will begin its main mission, which will be to study the weather on the Sun. In March, the probe will reach a record distance from our star – For 50 million km, or about a third of that that separates the Earth from an object at the center of the solar system. The ship will examine the solar wind and plumes in more detail.

It should be noted that the solar probe will not fly as close to the sun as the Parker Solar Probe. This second probe recently approached our star Na Only 8.5 million km. However, this is due to the different research characteristics of both expeditions.

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