ISRO will create history by combining European Space Agency’s satellite on December 4, know what is Proba-1 mission and what will be its use?
Science News Desk – 4 ISRO is going to achieve another big achievement on December. Proba-3 will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on December 4 at around 4 pm. The special thing is that this solar mission of the European Space Agency will be launched from ISRO’s PSLV rocket. This is the third solar mission of the Proba series of the European Space Agency (ESA), before this ESA’s Proba-1 was also launched by ISRO in the year 2001. Proba-2 was launched in the year 2009. Teams from Spain, Belgium, Poland, Italy and Switzerland are working for the Proba-3 mission.
What is Proba-3 mission?
The cost of the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission is around Rs 1780 crore, whose life will be around 2 years. It will be sent into an elliptical orbit of 600 x 60530 kilometers, whose orbital period will be about 19.7 hours. The Proba-3 mission has been designed in such a way that two satellites will be launched simultaneously, which will fly separately from each other but will operate in synchronized orbit around the Sun. Both satellites will create solar coronagraphs, which can capture intense light from the Sun in the atmosphere.
What will Proba-3 do in solar mission?
The temperature of the Sun’s corona reaches 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, so it is very difficult to study it closely with any instrument. Nevertheless, it is important for scientific studies and all space weather and its associated disturbances such as solar storms, solar winds that radiate from the Sun’s corona. All of these phenomena affect space weather, and can also disrupt satellite-based communications, navigation, and the operation of power grids on Earth. To study all these things, 3 instruments have been installed in Proba-3.
Study of the Sun through 3 instruments
The first ASPIICS instrument, which may also be called a coronagraph, will study the dark circle or gap formed between the Sun’s inner corona and outer corona. It is a circular area that can usually be easily seen during a solar eclipse. The instrument has a 1.4 meter diameter occulter disk that will block light coming from the Sun and provide a close-up image of the region. In addition, Proba-3 carries a Digital Absolute Radiometer (DARA), which will continuously measure the total energy radiated from the Sun. Proba-3 carries a 3D energetic electron spectrometer (3DEES) instrument that will provide data for space weather studies.
What is special in Proba-3 mission?
The Proba-3 mission has two satellites, one is the Occulter spacecraft which weighs 200 kg and the other is the Coronagraph spacecraft which weighs 340 kg. Together these two will simulate a natural solar eclipse. During a natural solar eclipse, one gets only 10 minutes to observe the physics of the Sun and study the corona. But Proba-3 will give 6 hours of time for this, which will be equal to about 50 natural solar eclipses annually. This will help in in-depth study of the Sun’s corona, which has not been done till now. Both the occulter and coronagraph will be facing the Sun from their orbit. During this time they will fly in a formation a few millimeters apart and then stay within 150 meters of each other for about 6 hours once a day.
