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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,838

Solar Orbiter getting first Venus gravity assist

This caught me a bit by surprise that we did not have a topic for this mission.
Solar Orbiter prepares for festive Venus flyby

Today, 17 December, Solar Orbiter is 235 million kilometers from Earth, and about 10.5 million from Venus. It takes about 13 minutes for signals to travel to (or from) the spacecraft.

Closest approach will take place at 12:39 UTC (13:39 CET) on 27 December, and will see the spacecraft fly some 7 500 km from the Venus cloud tops. Later flybys, from 2025, will see much closer encounters of just a few hundred kilometers.

During the upcoming flyby several in-situ science instruments—MAG, RPW and some sensors of EPD—will be switched on to record the magnetic, plasma and particle environment around the spacecraft as it encounters Venus. (It is not possible to take images of Venus during the flyby because the spacecraft must remain facing the sun.).

Solar Orbiter's path around the sun has been chosen to be 'in resonance' with Venus, which means that it will return to the planet's vicinity every few orbits and can again use the planet's gravity to alter or tilt its orbit. The next encounter will be in August 2021, which is also within a few days of BepiColombo's next Venus gravity assist. Initially Solar Orbiter will be confined to the same plane as the planets, but each encounter of Venus will increase its orbital inclination. By 2025 it will make its first solar pass at 17º inclination, increasing to 33º by the end of the decade, bringing even more of the polar regions into direct view.

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 17,064

Re: Solar Orbiter getting first Venus gravity assist

For SpaceNut re new topic ... glad to see this instrument now has its own topic ... with a lifetime stretching out for years, the probe should provide interesting reports from time to time. 

Of more immediate interest is any data the probe can collect from Venus.  I understand it is not designed to collect information about Venus, but it might be able to shed some light on the recent discussion of a chemical in the atmosphere. 

(th)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,838

Re: Solar Orbiter getting first Venus gravity assist

Solar Orbiter probe makes its first Venus flyby

collecting info about the hellish planet as it swung by around 7:39AM Eastern. There won’t be photos when telescopes are focused on the main mission, but the Solar Orbiter gathered magnetometer, particle, plasma and radio data that could provide insights into how Venus interacts with solar winds.

Scientists expect to take a few days before they can analyze the results and see if there are any discoveries. Just don’t expect major surprises — this isn’t a Venus-oriented ship, and the 4,700-mile distance limited what Solar Orbiter could study.  This is Solar Orbiter’s first flyby, and one of its first opportunities to obtain data as part of its seven-year mission.