Solar Orbiter headed for Cape Canaveral

[Michael]

Solar Orbiter ready to depart Europe

Solar Orbiter will launch on a NASA-provided Atlas V 411. The launch is currently scheduled in the early hours of 6 February (UTC). Once in space, and over the course of several years, it will use the gravity of Venus and Earth to raise its orbit above the poles of the Sun, providing new perspectives on our star, including the first images of the Sun’s polar regions. Its complementary suite of instruments means it will be able to study the plasma environment locally around the spacecraft, and collect data from the Sun from afar, connecting the dots between the Sun’s activity, and the space environment in the inner Solar System.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is a bit like the Parker Solar probe, but unlike the PSP, it will be going over the polar regions, and it won't get as close to the sun as the PSP.

 

[Michael]

I'm curious to see how (or if) the solar wind composition changes closer to the poles.