Solar Orbiter: Nasa and ESA launch probe to give unprecedented view of Sun
The IndependentSign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It joins Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe, which set off in 2018 on a mission to “touch the Sun” and get closer to its surface than ever before. Europe’s project scientist Daniel Mueller was thrilled, calling it “picture perfect.” His NASA counterpart, scientist Holly Gilbert, exclaimed, “One word: Wow.” NASA declared success 1 1/2 hours later, once the Solar Orbiter’s solar wings were unfurled. Nasa's new telescope finds its first earth-sized alien planet orbiting two stars Solar Orbiter’s head-on views should finally yield a full 3-D view of the sun, 93 million miles from our home planet. “With Solar Observatory looking right down at the poles, we’ll be able to see these huge coronal hole structures,” said Nicola Fox, director of NASA’s heliophysics division.