What's happened
The European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission successfully launched from India, aiming to demonstrate precision formation flying with two satellites. This innovative mission will create artificial solar eclipses to study the Sun's corona, enhancing our understanding of solar phenomena over its two-year operational period.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to Marcia Dunn from The Independent, the Proba-3 mission is expected to create hundreds of artificial eclipses during its two-year operation, allowing scientists to study the Sun's corona in unprecedented detail. Dunn emphasizes the mission's significance, stating, "This has a huge scientific relevance in addition to testing high-precision formation flying."
In contrast, Ars Technica highlights the technical challenges of the mission, noting that achieving millimeter-scale precision is crucial for the satellites to operate effectively. Project manager Damien Galano remarked, "In a nutshell, it’s an experiment in space to demonstrate a new concept, a new technology that is technically challenging."
The Associated Press also underscores the mission's potential impact on understanding solar phenomena, particularly CMEs, which can have significant effects on Earth. They report that the first results from the mission are expected in March 2025, following initial checkouts of the satellites.
How we got here
Proba-3 is the first mission to utilize precision formation flying, requiring two satellites to maintain a distance of just one millimeter apart. This technology aims to improve solar observations, particularly of the Sun's corona, which is crucial for understanding solar activity and its effects on Earth.
More on these topics
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The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200 in 2018 and an annual budget of about €6.6
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by land area, and the most populous democracy in the world.
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A solar eclipse occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. Such alignment coincides with a new moon indicating the Moon is clo