Just before Venus' axial pass, the Solar Orbiter of the European Space Agency (ESA), which is investigating the Sun, came into contact with a coronal mass ejection (CME).
On Aug. 30, Venus was the target of a CME, an explosion of charged particles from the Sun's upper atmosphere. Later, the solar material bubble, which was getting ready for its final orbital flyby of the second planet from the Solar System, arrived in solar orbit.
Thankfully, the ESA-NASA observatory is built to measure the type of powerful eruption it experienced, so it can easily fend off solar attacks.
ESA Solar Orbiter Still Okay After Gathering Observations of Sun's CME
ESA's Solar Orbiter gathered useful observations of its surroundings during the CME contact and discovered an increase in energetic solar particles.
At 01:26 GMT on Sept. 4, the spacecraft successfully completed its close approach to Venus at 9:26 p.m. EDT on Sept. 3.
"The close approach went exactly to plan, thanks to a great deal of planning from our colleagues in Flight Dynamics and the diligent care of the Flight Control Team," explains Jose-Luis Pellon-Bailon, Solar Orbiter Operations Manager, in a statement.
Protons, electrons, and even ionized helium atoms are flung from the Sun during violent solar flares. They are driven to close to relativistic speeds.
These particles can harm spacecraft and put astronauts in danger of radiation exposure, Space.com reported.
Protecting life and technology on Earth and in space will consequently benefit from our understanding of their motions and behavior in space.
ESA/NASA's Solar Orbiter is returning its first science data, including images of the Sun taken from closer than any spacecraft in history.
ALSO READ: ESA Solar Orbiter Successful Venus Flyby Captures the Nearest Image of the Sun
The ESA's Flight Dynamics and Flight Control teams also executed the flyby precisely as anticipated. Interesting Engineering said the orbiter would be approximately 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) closer to the Sun when it next makes contact with it.
As a pre-flyby measure, the ESA crew had disabled a few of the orbiter's instruments. It would shield them from any stray sunlight that the glassy planet may reflect. The rush of energetic particles originating from the Sun was measured by the orbiter's "in-situ" equipment, though.
How Understanding Sun Would Help Earth
People will better comprehend solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and the Sun's magnetic field, eventually improving scientists' ability to anticipate space weather with the aid of the orbiter's 10 instruments, Interesting Engineering said.
The Sun, which is at the heart of our solar system, has an impact on how the planets are shaped. The inner planets' atmospheres were long ago stripped away by the Sun's high temperatures, making them incapable of supporting life.
Scientists need to comprehend how space weather will harm people when we are not shielded by the Earth's magnetosphere, as well as how it will damage our machinery and communication systems as we work to travel to the Moon and beyond.
Two and a half years after its 2020 launch, the Solar Orbiter is halfway through a 10-year mission to photograph the Sun at its closest-ever distance and investigate the characteristics of the star's magnetic field.
RELATED ARTICLE: European Space Agency (ESA) Prepares Detailed Plan to Safely Send Orbital Spacecraft in the 'Hot, Thick Atmosphere' of Venus
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