The European Space Agency (ECA) is gearing up for a groundbreaking mission with an aim to generate artificial solar eclipses. The initiative, named PROBA-3, involves launching two spacecraft into space that will be positioned 150 meters apart from each other. The objective is for one spacecraft to effectively block the sun, revealing only its corona. This setup will enable scientists to delve into one of the most enigmatic regions of the solar atmosphere – the glowing corona.
To execute this mission successfully, the spacecraft will need to maintain an extremely precise alignment relative to each other, with an accuracy of one millimeter. This will be achieved through the use of satellite navigation, radio communications, cameras, and a laser beam that will be reflected between the two spacecraft. Technical Director Eka Ditmar Pilz underscored the complexity of the undertaking, highlighting that the spacecraft will essentially function as a single 150-meter-long instrument. The mission is designed to observe solar eclipses that occur during the 19-hour orbital cycles of the spacecraft, lasting up to six hours each.
Studying the Sun’s corona is crucial for comprehending the space weather in our solar system. The corona is inexplicably hotter than the Sun’s surface and plays a pivotal role in the development of solar winds and mass ejections that can impact Earth, from the auroras to large-scale electrical disruptions.
Current coronagraphs, whether on Earth or in space, face limitations due to light scattering, rendering them inadequate for such investigations independently. Eka asserted that the Proba-3 mission will surmount these challenges, creating ideal conditions for researching the solar corona. The launch is scheduled for September, with hopes that its successful execution will yield new insights for Earth’s climate modeling.
This ambitious endeavor comes just before the eagerly anticipated total solar eclipse on April 8, traversing from South Texas to Maine, serving as a reminder of the magnificence and potency of celestial phenomena.