Solar Orbiter ready for close encounter with Venus

The European Space Agency (ESA) is ready to guide the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft through its closest encounter with Venus so far.

Today’s flyby will be the first to significantly ‘tilt’ the spacecraft’s orbit and allow it to see the Sun’s polar regions, which cannot be seen from Earth.

Studying the Sun’s poles will improve our understanding of solar activity , space weather , and the Sun-Earth connection .

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