The Solar Orbiter Mission by Dr Michelle Sprake

Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) have the potential to cause considerable disruption to us here on Earth, damaging power grids and communication/ navigation satellites. Solar Orbiter,  a European Space Agency mission, will study the Sun and inner heliosphere as never before. Providing the closest views of the Sun to date, the spacecraft will carry out, for the first time, simultaneous remote sensing and in-situ measurements both in and out-of-the-ecliptic plane. These measurements will help us understand the solar processes that create flares and CMEs, and their propagation into the Solar system.   

Dr Michelle Sprake is a payload interface engineer at Airbus Defence and Space, the Prime Contractor for Solar Orbiter, working with the SPICE, SWA and EUI instruments. She will be presenting an overview of the Solar Orbiter mission, its design challenges and the status of the project. 

There will be a break for refreshments and an update on recent astronomy news.

Members £2, non members £3.