Belgian satellite headed for the sun
The European Space Agency ESA will put the twin satellite Proba-3 into orbit on Wednesday.
The satellites for this space mission have been assembled and tested at Redwire Space in Kruibeke, Belgium.
Launched from India on Wednesday, the 2 satellites will study the sun's atmosphere and must fly through space in perfect synchronisation to do so. The satellites will fly in an elongated orbit for 2 years, at a distance between 600 and 60,000 kilometres from our planet. The Proba-3 mission will study the solar corona, which is the atmosphere around the sun. That corona is several million degrees Celsius hot, while the surface is much cooler at ‘only’ 5,500 degrees. So far, we do not know the cause of that temperature difference. Perhaps this unique mission will provide more clarity!
(SR for Tagtik/Source: ESA - VRT NWS - Belga/Illustration picture: Pixabay)