E se due satelliti potessero fluttuare nello spazio, a 144 metri di distanza l'uno dall'altro, ma lavorare insieme in modo così perfetto da comportarsi come un'unica gigantesca macchina? Questo è l'obiettivo della nuova missione Proba-3 dell'ESA, appena lanciata alla ricerca dei segreti del nostro Sole!
Our mysterious Sun
Have you ever witnessed a solar eclipse? When the Moon blocks the Sun, it reveals the Sun’s faint outer atmosphere, called the corona. This mysterious region is millions of degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface — a puzzle that scientists are trying to solve. Huge explosions called Coronal Mass Ejections also blast out from the corona, causing problems for astronauts, satellites, and even power grids on Earth. However, the corona is a million times fainter than the Sun, and is only visible for a few minutes during a solar eclipse. This makes studying it very difficult.
Enter the Proba-3 mission! It is a pair of satellites that will soon begin working together to solve this challenge.
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Il satellite Occulter ha un grande disco circolare che blocca la luce abbagliante del Sole, creando un'eclissi artificiale che sarà vista dal suo partner.
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Il satellite Coronagraph trasporta uno speciale telescopio per studiare in dettaglio la corona del Sole.
Insieme, questi satelliti innovativi creeranno eclissi di lunga durata nello spazio, consentendo agli scienziati di osservare la corona fino a sei ore alla volta!
3, 2, 1 – lift off!
Launching two satellites into space was not easy, but ESA planned everything to perfection. Proba-3 blasted off aboard India’s powerful PSLV-XL rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, a famous spaceport in India.
Now safely in space, the two satellites are heading into an orbit that stretches 60,000 kilometres away from Earth – far enough to get a perfect uninterrupted view of the Sun. After a short setup period, the satellites will begin their incredible “space ballet”, flying in formation to perform their experiments.
Watching Proba-3 leave Earth on its journey to study the Sun was an exciting event for space enthusiasts worldwide. Soon, the real science will begin!
Curiosità: Proba-3 is like a carefully choreographed space dance, with the two satellites flying exactly 144 metres apart, precise to just a few millimetres. This makes it the world’s first precision formation flying mission!
