ESA Solar Orbiter animation 2012

Solar Orbiter on a Mission to Study the Sun

Solar Orbiter, a project of the European Space Agency in collaboration with NASA, aims to make significant breakthroughs in our understanding both of how the inner heliosphere of the sun works, and of the effects of solar activity on it. The spacecraft will take a unique combination of measurements: in situ measurements will be used alongside remote sensing close to the Sun to relate these measurements back to their source regions and structures on the surface. It will operate both in and out of the ecliptic plane. Solar Orbiter will measure solar wind plasma, fields, waves, and energetic particles close enough to the Sun to ensure that they are still relatively pristine.