The solar probe’Solar Orbiter’, which is scheduled to explore the polar regions of the Sun, succeeded in a flyby to Venus on its way to the Sun, reported by major foreign media such as Engadget on the 27th (local time).
The Solar Orbiter approached a point 7500km above Venus at 7:39am EST on the 27th. The probe collected Venus atmospheric data with magnetometers, radio waves and plasma devices to see how Venus interacts with the solar wind during close flight.
The solar observation vessel’Solar Orbiter’, jointly developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was launched in February and is expected to observe the sun around the sun for the next seven years. Solar Orbiter is expected to be able to observe the corona phenomenon as well as polar regions such as the South and North Pole of the Sun.
“The Solar Orbiter is not designed for Venus exploration, but we are always looking forward to a bonus opportunity for scientific research,” said Daniel Muller, an ESA project scientist, at the American Geophysical Society (AGU) conference on the 10th. When it approaches Venus, it will also observe Venus.”
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It is expected that it will take about several days for scientists to analyze and verify the data collected by the Solar Orbiter. Of course, the fact that this probe is not a spacecraft for the exploration of Venus, and that the data was collected 7500km from Venus is considered a limitation.
Nevertheless, this close flight to Venus is the Solar Orbiter’s first close flight, and is an important milestone, said Engadget, saying that it is also the first of the seven-year-planned missions.