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Tereza Pultarova: Hello and

welcome to the European Space

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Agency's press briefing on the

occasion of the release of the

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first images from Solar Orbiter.

Solar orbiter is a new

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Sun-observing mission and

collaboration between ESA and

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NASA that was designed and built

to take the closest-ever images

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of the Sun. My name is Tereza

Pultarova. I'm a science writer

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at ESA and I will be your host

today. Joining me online mostly

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from their homes, because we are

still in this socially distance

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COVID-19 situation are six

amazing guests who are among the

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key people who made this mission

possible, who brought it to life

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and who will be responsible for

the cutting edge science that

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it's going to deliver which will

which will really transform our

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understanding of the processes

on the Sun and how it influences

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the entire solar system. My

first guest is Daniel Muller,

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who is either solar or better

project scientist, scientist.

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Hello, Daniel.

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Daniel Müller: Hello, Tereza.

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Tereza Pultarova: Our second

guest is Holly Gilbert, who is

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the director of the Heliophysics

science division at NASA's

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Goddard Space Flight Center, and

also solar orbiter Project

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Scientist at NASA. Hello Holly

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Holly Gilbert: Hello.

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Tereza Pultarova: Our third

guest is David Berghmans of the

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Royal Observatory of Belgium.

And David is the principal

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investigator of the Extreme

Ultraviolet Imager, or EUI,

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which is one of the six

remote-sensing instruments, the

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telescopes and solar orbiter.

Hello David.

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David Berghmans: Good afternoon,

Tereza.

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Tereza Pultarova: Our fourth

guest is Sami Solanki, the

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director of the Max Planck

Institute for Solar System

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Research in Germany and

principal investigator of the

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Polarimetric and Helioseismic

Imager, which is another really

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interesting telescope that Solar

Orbiter carries. Hello Sami.

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Sami Solanki: Hello Tereza

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Tereza Pultarova: Next we have

Chris Owen of the University

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College, London's Mullard Space

Science Laboratory. And Chris is

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the principal investigator of

the Solar Wind Analyzer which is

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one of the four in situ

instruments on Solar Orbiter and

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these instruments don't take

images, but measure the

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properties of the environment

around the spacecraft. Hello,

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Chris.

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Chris Owen: Good afternoon

everyone.

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Tereza Pultarova: And last but

not least, is José Luis Pellón

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who is solar orbital spacecraft

operations manager at the

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European Space Operations Center

in Darmstadt, Germany. Hello,

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José.

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José Luis Pellón Bailón: Hello

everybody.

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Tereza Pultarova: Before we

start, let me inform the

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journalists who are hopefully

watching us right now. If you

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have any questions, please send

them to media at ESA dot IT, and

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at the end of this briefing, we

will try to answer as many

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questions as possible. Again,

the email address is media at

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ESA dot IT. You can also join

the conversation on Twitter

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using the hashtag

#thesunupclose. Again, the

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hashtag is #thesunupclose. And

let's, let's start with the

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questions. Daniel, I said at the

beginning one of the tasks of

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solar orbiter is to take the

closest images of the Sun. The

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images that we are going to see

today--are they already the

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closest images?

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Daniel Müller: Yes Tereza.

Indeed, we've never been closer

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to the Sun with a camera. And

this is just the beginning of

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the long epic journey of solar

orbiter, which will take us even

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closer to the sun in less than

two years time. As far as taking

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high resolution images goes,

there are two options: getting

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closer to the object of

interest, or building a bigger

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telescope. That's a little bit

like going on an expedition. You

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either get closer to the

elephant or you use a bigger

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camera. So the world's largest

solar telescope to date is the

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Inouye solar telescope in

Hawaii, which has a diameter of

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four meters. But Ground-based

telescopes have one major

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drawback, and that is the fact

that Earth's atmosphere is

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blocking large parts of the

spectrum of sunlight. So if you

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want to observe the sun in

ultraviolet light and x-rays as

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we want, we need to go into

space. And solar orbiter is

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using what we call

gravity-assist maneuvers or

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slingshot maneuvers at the

planet Venus and Earth to get

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closer to the Sun. And we do

this by harnessing the

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gravitational field of the

planets to slow down our

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spacecraft that makes it fall

towards the Sun just a little

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more rather than just flying

around it.

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Tereza Pultarova: Can you just

tell us that images that we are

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going to see today, when were

they taken and how far was solar

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orbiter from the sun at that

moment and how it compares to

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the distance from Earth and

perhaps the ultimate distance of

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solar orbiter.

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Daniel Müller: The images that

we are going to see soon were

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taken around the time of our

first close approach to the sun,

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which was at 77 million

kilometers, which is just over

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half the distance between Sun

and Earth. And so this is not

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quite as close as we will

eventually get, our closest

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approach will be just over a

quarter of the distance between

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the Sun and Earth. And we will

reach that in about two years

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time.

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Tereza Pultarova: And my next

question is for Holly: Holly,

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solar orbiter, as we said, is

taking the closest images of the

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sun but many people know that

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is

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actually flying much closer to

the sun than solar orbiter. Can

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you explain to us why Parker

Solar Probe is not taking

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images?

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Holly Gilbert: Indeed, Parker

Solar Probe is going closer to

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the sun--much closer within nine

solar radii. But the environment

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that close is extremely harsh.

And so they don't have many

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cameras. They have one camera

that's not facing the sun, it's

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facing away so that it can watch

the solar wind. But cameras

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can't go that close. So solar

orbiter is really the limit

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where the cameras can take

images of the sun itself.

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Tereza Pultarova: Can you

compare the environment in which

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Parker Solar Probe is and that

of solar orbiter?

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Holly Gilbert: Well, if you

imagine many, many, many times

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the sun at the intensity and as

you get closer and closer to the

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sun, solar orbiter isn't as

close as Parker and each time

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you get closer, the more intense

it gets. And so the environment

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just gets too harsh as you get

that close to the sun.

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Tereza Pultarova: There are many

other spacecraft studying the

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sun and many of them are

actually orbiting the Earth and

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they're also as Daniel already

mentioned, Many ground-based

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telescopes, which provide really

great resolution, what is the

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advantage of having a mission

like solar orbiter in this mix,

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and what is the unique

contribution of solar orbiter to

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solar science?

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Holly Gilbert: in order to

understand how the sun really

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creates that plasma bubble and

how it modulates the environment

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in the solar system, we need

many, many observations. And so

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we often combine observations

from different observatories,

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including ground observatories.

But solar orbiter in this mix

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offers a couple of very unique

aspects. One is its orbit. It

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will eventually get out of the

ecliptic -- as it's getting

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closer to the sun, it will get

out of the ecliptic, which is

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the plane that the planets all

rotate around the sun in. So up

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to now, we've only been able to

really image that part of the

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Sun from the Earth's

perspective. But we're going to

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be able to take images and

pictures of the polar regions of

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the sun for the very first time

and this is extremely exciting,

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and also the powerful suite of

instruments that solar orbiter

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offers. It's a combination of

the ones that take images, the

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remote sensing, and the ones

that are sampling the plasma,

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the in situ data. And so that

combination really allows us to

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make links and connections to

what's happening on the sun and

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where what's happening at the

spacecraft.

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Just so the Orbiter Mission had

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a very unusual start to its

operations. Solar orbiter was

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launched on the 10th of February

this year. Less than a month

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later it became clear that the

new Coronavirus closing the

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COVID-19 disease was spreading

in Europe. ESA took a very early

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action at the time and by

mid-March most staff members

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were working from home. It is no

exaggeration to say that Solar

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orbiter became the first

spacecraft in ESA's history that

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has been mostly commissioned

from people's homes. Jose, my

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next question is for you. The

early months in the orbital life

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of any mission are probably the

most challenging. What was going

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through your head when the

COVID-19 situation started

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unfolding in the middle of the

commissioning?

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José Luis Pellón Bailón: When

you are right, we're very

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worried. As you said the solar

orbiter was launched on the 10th

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of February. And already towards

the end of February, we were

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getting instructions from our

management with respect to the

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visitors that will be allowed to

enter the ESA control center in

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Germany, our site. So,

traditionally, commissioning is

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performed with the instrument

teams together with us here in

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the control center. And we have

started to realize that if the

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pandemic would evolve, and it

has unfortunately evolved, this

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would not be possible. So, we

worried, travel restriction were

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imposed also to the different

countries where the research

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institute that manage the

instruments onboard solid

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orbiter are located. So we have

to plan another way of

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performing commissioning and it

was from home partially also on

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site keeping severe

restrictions.

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Tereza Pultarova: So can you

describe to us exactly how it

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how you dealt with the

situation?

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José Luis Pellón Bailón: Well,

yes, we have to stop for almost

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10 days during March, we have to

replan everything. We had

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started the commissioning, in

operation our way with the teams

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here. But when the lockdown came

to reality, we have to replan

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everything. So one of the

biggest restriction was that

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only two engineers could be in

the control room at the same

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time keeping distance. And of

course the instrument teams were

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in their home countries, they

had to do everything remote via

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teleconference, showing them

what we could see in our control

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screens. So it was difficult but

it has worked pretty well, I

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think better than we expected,

think that things are happy, we

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are happy. And we managed to

bring the commission into a

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successful end

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Tereza Pultarova: That's

fantastic, thank you. Chris: I

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know that the work of the solar

wind analyzer team was quite

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badly affected by the COVID-19

pandemic and restrictions. Can

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you tell us how was the

situation for you?

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Chris Owen: Yes, I guess like

the like everybody else in the

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world the last few months have

been unexpectedly challenging.

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And in particular, our set of

sensors all use very high

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voltages to make their

measurements and we would

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normally get those turned on

after waiting for several weeks

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after launch, in order to allow

all the atmospheric pockets of

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air that might be trapped in the

in the instrument to get out. So

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actually, by the time we were

ready to go and turn our

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instrument on, we were pretty

much up against the the set of

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lockdowns. And by the time we

came out of the the ESOC

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lockdown, and we're ready to go,

we're also locked out of our own

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labs. So we've had to set up a

system where we're doing this

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very delicate operation where we

would go to something try to

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ramp up to something like 30,000

volts, steps of 25 volts at a

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time, and you know at each step,

looking very carefully at the

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data coming back to make sure

that nothing had gone wrong. A

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very delicate operation needed

to be done from our home. So we

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had like multiple WebExs is

running where we had one

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connection to the spacecraft

operator. We had another one to

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members of the team who were all

looking at the data that Jose

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Luis talked about had a very

narrow field of view from a

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webcam. ESOC looking at the very

most important parts of the

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data, and then trying to

download the data and plot it on

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the fly as much as we can to

make sure it was safe. But that

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meant that we weren't you know,

we were sending out a risky

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command and having to wait a few

minutes to see the result which

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was pretty stressful. But, but

as Jose Luis says, In the end,

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it was it was good and

successful. So yeah, we're

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happy.

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Tereza Pultarova: Sami How was

the experience for the fitting?

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Sami Solanki: Yes. So in the

beginning, things started very

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normally then the pandemic hit,

and everything was shut down

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actually the instruments on the

spacecraft, they were more or

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less put on standby and we were

really worried at that point. As

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the spacecraft is hurtling away

from the earth, and we cannot

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continue with the conditioning

and have no idea what our

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instrument is like. Thanks to

you know, a lot of work and the

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good ideas coming from the staff

at ESOC, we managed to

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commissioning again. And it was

challenging and, it was indeed

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quite challenging because we had

to have teams, you know, complex

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teams in three countries, many

different Institutes, and we had

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to make sure that we can all

communicate up to 20 people all

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doing it online instead of in

one big room. But we managed to

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do that.

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you,

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Sami Solanki: and finally it

worked.

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Tereza Pultarova: Fantastic.

Let's have a look at the images

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because I think that's what

everybody's waiting for. David,

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the extreme ultraviolet imager

or EUI, that's one of the six

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telescopes aboard solar orbiter.

Can you just quickly explain to

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us what does this instrument

enable you to do?

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Daniel Müller: Okay, so the

thing is that Solar orbiter will

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fly four times closer to the sun

than the Earth. And that implies

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that a scene from solar orbiter

the solar disk will be 16 times

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bigger. So whenever something

happens on that big solar disk

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into space, EUI will be watching

and imaging and monitoring all

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this phenomena from the smallest

to the biggest scales.

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Tereza Pultarova: How does it

compare, how does it compare to

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similar instruments that have

been used before?

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David Berghmans: So EUI is sort

of the the last in an evolution.

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There is always new technology

coming in. But I think what the

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revolutionary aspects of EUI is

what, what what Daniel already

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said, it's really bringing it

closer to the elephant, by by

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looking from close by, we get so

much sharper images. And not

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only will be they'll be get

closer images, but we will see

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from a non-Earth perspective,

that is we will look down on the

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poles, something we have never

done before.

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Tereza Pultarova: The images

that we're going to see in just

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very few short moments were

obtained at the end of the so

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called commissioning phase. And

that's the early period of

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technical validation. Solar

orbiter is not yet in its full

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science mode. So it was

essentially the first

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opportunity to properly test all

these instruments. What did you

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expect from those images? And

when they finally started

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coming, what was your

impression?

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David Berghmans: To be honest, I

didn't dare to expect

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anything--the last months of the

development of EUI had been

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extremely stressful with our

mirrors taking apart in the last

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moment and re-gluing everything

and software being changed in

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the last minute. So it was kind

of a battle to get it all

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together. And then when the

first images came in the first

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thought was, this is not

possible it cannot be that good.

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So it was really much better

than what we perhaps not

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expected, but what we dared to

hope for.

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Tereza Pultarova: So hopefully

now everybody should see a video

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clip, which is showing a

sequence of videos and images

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from EUI. David, can you explain

to us what is it that we can see

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in this sequence?

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David Berghmans: We see

different Solar instruments

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being displayed here -- this is

not EUI but it's its methods and

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the SolarHI instruments showing

the far-Corona. If we can play

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back this video to the beginning

and we'll see EUI? No?

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Tereza Pultarova: Anyway, let's,

let's have a let's that kind of

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focusing on the really

interesting bit. I understand we

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might be having a little bit of

technical problems when when we

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see the detailed images of the

Sun's surface. There is

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something really interesting

that caught your eye when you

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first saw them, could you

explain this a little bit?

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What's that, that we can see

that and why is it interesting?

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David Berghmans: Right, so the

very first high resolution

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images that we took, were not

pointing anywhere specifically,

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we are seeing a small disk part

of the solar disk here of the

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corona, which we essentially

call the quiet corona. Quiet,

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meaning that nothing is supposed

to happen here. But then when

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you look at it at high

resolution, it's amazing, in the

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smallest details, how much stuff

is going on there. We couldn't

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believe this when when we first

saw this, and we started giving

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it crazy names like campfires

and dark fibrils and ghosts and

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whatever we saw. So there is so

much new small phenomena going

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on on the smaller scale that we

are like starting a new

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vocabulary to give it all names.

And many of those things have

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been seen before at bigger

scales. But nevertheless, this

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small scales in the quiet

corona.

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Daniel: What do solar scientists

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know about these little

campfires, these little

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phenomena and how much has been

known? How much have they been

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observed before?

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Daniel Müller: Well, Teresa,

like David was saying to all

305

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knowledge, many of these

particular features have not

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been observed before at this

scale. These are clearly just

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the first test images so it's

too early to draw any scientific

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conclusions. But our conjecture

is that these campfires and

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ghosts related to changes in the

Sun's magnetic field, a process

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that is known as magnetic

reconnection. So we believe that

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even though it's the quiet sun,

and they are only very small

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scale magnetic fields, these

field lines do get tangled and

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get under stress and like rubber

bands they can eventually tear

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and then reconfigure into new

configurations and that that

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tearing process can release

energy, vast quantities, and

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that would then heat the plasma

locally to temperatures of more

317

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than a million degrees, which is

what we see in any case in the

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EUI images.

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Tereza Pultarova: I understand

that these campfires could be

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involved in one in one big solar

science mystery and that is the

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heating of the corona. Can you

explain what that is? Why is it

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a mystery and how these

campfires could be connected to

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that?

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Daniel Müller: The fact that the

sun's corona is so hot is really

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been a mystery for many, many

years, it's a little

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counterintuitive, because you

would think if you have a body

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that's very hot at the center

and relatively cool at the

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surface, it would be even

cooler, the further you go away.

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But on the contrary, for the

sun, we have a hot core

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relatively cool surface of just

about five and a half thousand

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degrees surrounded by a super

hot atmosphere of more than a

332

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million degrees. It's as if you

would light fire, and as you

333

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move further away from the fire,

it doesn't get cooler but in

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fact, it really starts to burn

you when you're really far away.

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So that is really the the

peculiar thing about the sun's

336

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corona and the corona of other

stars as well. There have been

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multiple theories put forward to

account for that, including

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shockwaves and other phenomena.

Most of them though, are related

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to changes in the sun's magnetic

field. And there's a theory put

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forward by a great U.S.

physicist Eugene Parker, after

341

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whom the NASA Parker Solar Probe

has been named, who conjectured

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that if you should have a vast

number of tiny flares, so

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similar to the flares that we've

observed on bigger scales, but

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just a lot smaller all the time

in the sun, that might account

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for an omnipresent heating

mechanism that could make the

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corona hot. So while we clearly

do not know yet, if what we see

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is in any way related to that

theory, there is a possibility

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that what we see here, let's say

the tiny cousins of the solar

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flares that we already know, and

they produce heat on a very

350

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different scale, but because of

the multitude that could

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contribute significantly to

heating the solar corona.

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you very

much. Holly, the images that we

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are seeing here are just now

there, as we said, only the

354

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first images and seeing them,

what does it suggest about the

355

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future potential of the solar

Orbiter Mission?

356

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Holly Gilbert: Yeah, I think

most importantly, it

357

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demonstrates that we are going

to be able to accomplish our

358

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solar objectives of solar

orbiter, we are very excited

359

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that everything is working. And

it also confirms the importance

360

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of looking at different physical

scales. If we've already made

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some discoveries in just the

first light images, just imagine

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what we're going to find when we

get closer to the sun, and when

363

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we get out of the ecliptic. Very

exciting.

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Tereza Pultarova: We mentioned

before that one of the goals is

365

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to look at the poles. So what do

you hope to see there on the

366

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poles? And what do you think to

learn from some orbiter images

367

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on the poles?

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Holly Gilbert: Well, we don't

know what we'll see yet. And

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it's very difficult to get out

of the ecliptic because it takes

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a lot of energy. And so by

imaging the poles, we're looking

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forward to seeing the magnetic

field and the different flows

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there. And that's really

important for understanding the

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global magnetic field of the

sun. Those polar regions are

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important. And so we'll be able

to model better the global

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magnetic field, how its

interacting with itself, and how

376

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it's driving space weather. So

it's going to be really, really

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exciting to see what those poles

offer and determine a little bit

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more understanding about how the

sun operates and how it drives 

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ts heliosphere.

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Sami, let's have a look at PHI.

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Can you explain to us what does

PHI enable you to do and why is

382

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it unique?

383

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Sami Solanki: Yes, gladly. So

fee is a magnetograph. That

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means it is an instrument which

measures the magnetic field of

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the Sun close to its surface. At

the same time, it also measures

386

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velocities close to the surface

of the sun, which include the

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oscillations--the sun as a whole

is oscillating all the time, and

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with these we can peer into the

sun, look at the interior. It's

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unique in the sense that first

of all, no magnetograph has ever

390

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been as close to the sun has as

PHI has and that has its

391

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advantages, obviously. And

secondly, it's the first

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magnetograph that's going to

look or is now already looking

393

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at the sun from a different

direction than you can from the

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earth. And so we are also seeing

parts of the Sun which are

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otherwise not visible. And

finally, PHI is unique because

396

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it will be the first instrument

to look at the sun from outside

397

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the ecliptic. And that's where

it will really come into it. So

398

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Tereza Pultarova: We are now at

the so called solar minimum, the

399

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sun is very quiet, what does it

mean for the images that you are

400

00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,330

able to obtain?

401

00:25:38,050 --> 00:25:41,260

Sami Solanki: So the quiet sun

means that it has very little

402

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magnetic field compared to what

it will hopefully have in a few

403

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years time. That means that this

magnetic field is also sort of

404

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randomly distributed over most

of the sun and small features.

405

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The images sort of look bland,

not very exciting, but that will

406

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change as the sun becomes more

active.

407

00:26:00,820 --> 00:26:02,740

Tereza Pultarova: I understand

that in spite of that you were

408

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able to have some interesting

like, firsts, can you tell us

409

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about this?

410

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Sami Solanki: Yes, as I said PHI

is the first instrument or the

411

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first Magnetograph to look at

the sun from the side, so to

412

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say. We still haven't reached

the far side of the sun, but at

413

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least from the side, and we have

seen in our full disk

414

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Magnetograms an active region,

which is totally invisible from

415

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the Earth. And that's exciting

because we know that the

416

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magnetic field is a kind of

holistic feature of the sun. It

417

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threads through the atmosphere

and connects very different

418

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parts of the sun with each

other. But so far, we've only

419

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seen one side of the sun and now

we're starting to see the whole

420

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beast.

421

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Tereza Pultarova: We know that

these active regions can create

422

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solar eruptions, and these solar

eruptions can then create solar

423

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weather events on Earth when

they deserve the magnetosphere

424

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and and it can affect

satellites. It can affect the

425

00:26:58,270 --> 00:27:00,040

power grids and

telecommunications,

426

00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,510

telecommunication network. Do

you expect solar orbiter can

427

00:27:04,510 --> 00:27:08,530

help us understand space weather

better or even prevent these

428

00:27:08,530 --> 00:27:09,700

disruptions in the future.

429

00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,380

Sami Solanki: I don't think we

will be able to prevent

430

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them--the sun is just much too

powerful for that. But what we

431

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hope at some point is to be able

to make predictions for that the

432

00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,190

first thing that is missing is a

proper understanding of what

433

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causes these eruptions. How does

the change of the magnetic field

434

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we know that the magnetic field

is causing it but we don't know

435

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how the magnetic field has to

develop and change to lead up to

436

00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,800

such an eruption and solar

orbiter by providing us a very

437

00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,850

different view than is possible

from Earth will definitely be a

438

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big help to reach this

understanding.

439

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Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Chris, Solar orbiter's

440

00:27:53,490 --> 00:27:56,940

instruments were designed to

essentially work together the

441

00:27:56,940 --> 00:28:00,000

remote-sensing cameras, the

telescopes, with the institute

442

00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:04,470

instruments on the spacecraft to

unlock the mysteries like the

443

00:28:04,500 --> 00:28:08,250

coronal heating, like space

weather. What exactly can in

444

00:28:08,250 --> 00:28:11,880

situ instrument teams such as

the solar wind analyzer team

445

00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,030

learn from the images that we

have seen today and how these

446

00:28:15,030 --> 00:28:19,350

images help you interpret your

data? What questions will you be

447

00:28:19,350 --> 00:28:19,980

able to answer?

448

00:28:20,170 --> 00:28:23,590

Chris Owen: Yeah, that's right.

So the I mean, most of the the

449

00:28:23,590 --> 00:28:27,940

big headline goals the novel

parts of the mission rely on us

450

00:28:27,940 --> 00:28:31,990

all working together, and being

able to link the the

451

00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:34,840

measurements or the the images

of the dynamics of the on the

452

00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:39,280

sun, with what is coming out

past a spacecraft. And you know,

453

00:28:39,310 --> 00:28:43,900

so to do that, in that sense,

these these images are one end

454

00:28:43,900 --> 00:28:47,440

of the system that we that will

provide us knowledge about the

455

00:28:47,770 --> 00:28:50,260

the specific sources of the

solar wind that we measure at

456

00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:53,380

the spacecraft and provide the

kind of diagnostics that you're

457

00:28:53,380 --> 00:28:57,130

seeing here on the screen in

this in this information

458

00:28:57,610 --> 00:29:02,320

leaflet, it just shows how, for

example, The SPICE instrument is

459

00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:07,810

able to focus in on the on, say

a candidate source region and

460

00:29:07,810 --> 00:29:11,620

return diagnostics about the

temperature. Sami talked about

461

00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:14,260

how his instrument will will

produce information about the

462

00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:17,380

magnetic field, we can get

information about the outflows

463

00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:21,760

and and in particular, here we

can see the graph shows the

464

00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,960

relative composition of the

plasma in the in those source

465

00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,260

regions and so that that's a key

part but for making the link

466

00:29:29,890 --> 00:29:32,320

link out and understanding the

dynamics and the physics of

467

00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,000

what's going on in the

atmosphere.

468

00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,130

Tereza Pultarova: So you will

see the differences between the

469

00:29:36,130 --> 00:29:38,080

different regions, do I

understand correctly?

470

00:29:38,110 --> 00:29:41,770

Chris Owen: Yeah, that's right.

So yeah, that so so different

471

00:29:41,770 --> 00:29:44,320

parts, whether it's a coronal

hole or an active region will

472

00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,290

will have a different signature

in all of these, these phenomena

473

00:29:47,290 --> 00:29:51,130

and we see fast solar wind and

slow solar wind coming out past

474

00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,190

past a spacecraft that's

detected by the in situ

475

00:29:54,190 --> 00:29:56,980

instruments and as I say that

the key to making the science

476

00:29:56,980 --> 00:30:00,310

leaps are about making those

links between the two sets of

477

00:30:00,310 --> 00:30:00,910

measurement.

478

00:30:01,780 --> 00:30:03,610

Tereza Pultarova: I also

understand that the solar wind

479

00:30:03,610 --> 00:30:06,820

analyzer made some really unique

measurements during this first

480

00:30:06,820 --> 00:30:09,130

close approach to the sun. Can

you tell us a little bit about

481

00:30:09,130 --> 00:30:09,400

that?

482

00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,320

Unknown: Yeah, so actually, so,

that also relates to to to what

483

00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,140

I just said and the problems at

the lower end. So, this is a

484

00:30:17,140 --> 00:30:21,700

good example of the link. And in

particular one of the sensors on

485

00:30:21,730 --> 00:30:24,730

in our instrument is going to

make the first dedicated

486

00:30:24,730 --> 00:30:28,270

measurements of the heavy ions

component in the solar wind. So

487

00:30:28,270 --> 00:30:30,850

most of the solar wind is made

up of protons and helium

488

00:30:30,850 --> 00:30:34,030

particles and electrons to

balance the charge, but it

489

00:30:34,030 --> 00:30:38,020

contains these rather exotic

heavy heavy particles of

490

00:30:38,020 --> 00:30:41,530

different charge states. So the

the carbon the oxygen, the iron,

491

00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,160

etc. and our instrument is

making the first measurements of

492

00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,150

these what you see on the screen

here is in the blobs are

493

00:30:50,050 --> 00:30:53,440

representative of each particle

that enters the instrument and

494

00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,400

we categorize it by what is

what's its energy, its its, its

495

00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,760

charge and its mass, and so we

can get it again, a kind of a

496

00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,530

fingerprint of the of the

composition of the, of the Solar

497

00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:08,260

wind passing the spacecraft,

which is a direct comparison to

498

00:31:08,260 --> 00:31:12,520

the SPICE measurements that were

in the in the last plot. And

499

00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,160

that really enables us to

establish what that link is and

500

00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,220

then we can bring the full power

of the full set of 10

501

00:31:18,220 --> 00:31:21,310

instruments to the problem and

understand some of the key

502

00:31:21,310 --> 00:31:23,470

issues like the coronal heating

problem or the or the

503

00:31:23,470 --> 00:31:24,790

acceleration of the solar wind.

504

00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,790

Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Daniel, we have seen so far

505

00:31:27,790 --> 00:31:30,610

images from two of the six

remote-sensing instruments and

506

00:31:30,610 --> 00:31:33,340

couldn't invite everybody

unfortunately to talk in this

507

00:31:33,370 --> 00:31:36,760

press conference. From your

perspective, what were the other

508

00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,430

highlights of this first imaging

campaign? What are the

509

00:31:39,430 --> 00:31:41,170

interesting things that you

learn?

510

00:31:43,010 --> 00:31:45,020

Daniel Müller: One of the real

highlight for me Tereza was

511

00:31:45,020 --> 00:31:49,100

getting the grand perspective of

the sun and heliosphere for the

512

00:31:49,100 --> 00:31:52,490

first time. We have these two

coronagraphs on board one is

513

00:31:52,490 --> 00:31:55,700

called Metis which images the

corona around the sun at a

514

00:31:55,700 --> 00:32:00,230

distance of several solar radio

and then we have the Heliosperic

515

00:32:00,260 --> 00:32:04,370

Imager called SoloHI , which

looks sideways over the edge of

516

00:32:04,370 --> 00:32:08,870

our heat shield and images, the

wider space around the sun. So

517

00:32:08,900 --> 00:32:12,110

that impressed me really a lot

to see those first images, even

518

00:32:12,110 --> 00:32:15,230

though they're still rough

around the edges. Because the

519

00:32:15,230 --> 00:32:18,200

night we launched, it struck me

that solar orbit would go and

520

00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,010

explore faraway parts of the

solar system. And like Sami was

521

00:32:22,010 --> 00:32:25,250

saying earlier, see the sun from

a completely different

522

00:32:25,250 --> 00:32:28,400

perspective. And when I first

combined the first light image

523

00:32:28,430 --> 00:32:32,810

of SoloHI, with images of the

sun itself, it was really as if

524

00:32:32,810 --> 00:32:35,900

the spacecraft had had send us a

postcard from its journey.

525

00:32:36,950 --> 00:32:38,540

Tereza Pultarova: It's great.

Holly, are there any

526

00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:41,780

opportunities for cooperation

between solar orbiter and the

527

00:32:41,780 --> 00:32:42,800

Parker Solar Probe?

528

00:32:43,410 --> 00:32:45,780

Holly Gilbert: Absolutely. And

in fact, before we even

529

00:32:45,780 --> 00:32:48,930

launched, we were working with

that team to make sure that we

530

00:32:48,930 --> 00:32:51,720

were planning to take advantage

of the different conjunctions of

531

00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,260

the two spacecraft. For

instance, Parker Solar Probe,

532

00:32:55,260 --> 00:32:58,380

when it's very close to the sun

and solar orbiter can image the

533

00:32:58,380 --> 00:33:01,830

context the environment around

It and that provides a lot of

534

00:33:01,830 --> 00:33:04,590

information about what Parker

Solar Probe is sampling. And

535

00:33:04,590 --> 00:33:07,650

some other instruments on Parker

are also the same instruments

536

00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,620

are measuring the same thing on

solar orbiter. And so there's

537

00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,820

other conjunctions where we can

measure something at Parker and

538

00:33:14,820 --> 00:33:17,490

measure it also at solar orbiter

and again, link the two and see

539

00:33:17,490 --> 00:33:21,000

how that plasma has evolved, if

at all. So it's it's very

540

00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,220

exciting. It's a very good

synergy between the two

541

00:33:23,220 --> 00:33:23,790

missions.

542

00:33:24,300 --> 00:33:27,480

Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Jose, we mentioned that solar

543

00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,510

orbiter is not yet in its full

science phase. Could you just

544

00:33:30,510 --> 00:33:33,030

explain briefly the difference

between these various phases?

545

00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,740

José Luis Pellón Bailón: Well,

yes, now that the commissioning

546

00:33:37,740 --> 00:33:42,120

has finished, we are doing our

first steps in the so called the

547

00:33:42,150 --> 00:33:45,930

cruise phase. The cruise phase

will bring solar orbiter into

548

00:33:45,930 --> 00:33:50,340

the final science mission.

Cruise phase the in situ

549

00:33:50,490 --> 00:33:54,180

instrument will be performing

science and remote-sensing

550

00:33:54,210 --> 00:33:57,360

instruments will be performing

also science during dedicated

551

00:33:59,010 --> 00:34:01,050

remote-sensing check out

windows.

552

00:34:01,950 --> 00:34:05,460

Tereza Pultarova: Can you

explain why does it take so long

553

00:34:05,490 --> 00:34:08,490

for the spacecraft to get to the

required orbit?

554

00:34:09,050 --> 00:34:11,990

José Luis Pellón Bailón: Well,

yes, I mean given the mass of

555

00:34:11,990 --> 00:34:14,540

the spacecraft and the

performance of the launcher the

556

00:34:14,540 --> 00:34:18,920

initial orbit where the rocket

index solar orbiter has to be

557

00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:23,210

changed in order to end up in

the in the final science orbit.

558

00:34:24,740 --> 00:34:28,550

Orbits in a space can be changed

either by performing maneuvers

559

00:34:28,550 --> 00:34:32,120

which would imply consuming huge

amounts of propellant or

560

00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:36,650

performing planetary flybys and

have opted for the planetary

561

00:34:36,650 --> 00:34:41,750

flybys and solar winter is doing

a tour of planets doing, as

562

00:34:41,750 --> 00:34:45,230

Daniel said before slingshot or

gravity assists maneuvers around

563

00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:49,760

Venus and Earth in order to

arrive to the science orbit.

564

00:34:51,020 --> 00:34:54,200

Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Daniel, what is next for solar

565

00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:54,710

orbiter?

566

00:34:56,250 --> 00:34:59,430

Daniel Müller: Well, as you have

explained earlier, we have now

567

00:34:59,460 --> 00:35:02,670

embarked on what we call the

cruise phase, I should really

568

00:35:02,670 --> 00:35:05,220

say that for the in situ

instruments that measure the

569

00:35:05,220 --> 00:35:07,710

solar wind, the magnetic field

and the heliosphere, it's

570

00:35:07,710 --> 00:35:11,460

already full on science. So

Chris will surely talk about

571

00:35:11,460 --> 00:35:16,800

that later as well. In addition

to that, we will be using these

572

00:35:17,190 --> 00:35:22,500

planetary flybys twice at Venus

and once at Earth to tweak our

573

00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:25,710

orbit over the next year and a

half. We'll also use different

574

00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,580

let's say thermal configurations

when we are far away from the

575

00:35:29,580 --> 00:35:33,000

sun or closer to the sun to

check how the telescopes perform

576

00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,760

when they are warmer or cooler

in temperature on the onboard

577

00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:40,350

the spacecraft. And this I'm

sure there's one and a half

578

00:35:40,350 --> 00:35:47,070

years will really fly by in no

time and then in November 2021

579

00:35:47,370 --> 00:35:51,450

we'll do a last swing by at

Earth at an altitude of just 440

580

00:35:51,450 --> 00:35:54,360

kilometers, so really close to

home we should be able to see it

581

00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:58,680

with small telescopes,  and then

we are on our way and then in

582

00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,970

March 2022 we will have the

first really close flyby, when

583

00:36:02,970 --> 00:36:07,620

we are roughly at 30% of the

distance between Sun and Earth.

584

00:36:07,650 --> 00:36:11,100

So so that is fantastic. And

then over the next few years

585

00:36:11,100 --> 00:36:15,360

while we are in this five to six

month orbit, where we have very

586

00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,180

high resolution images every

couple of months, we will

587

00:36:18,180 --> 00:36:21,630

gradually incline our orbit to

see the polar regions for the

588

00:36:21,630 --> 00:36:24,690

first time. So that will be the

last, let's say change of

589

00:36:24,690 --> 00:36:27,690

perspective. And it's definitely

worth waiting for because we

590

00:36:27,690 --> 00:36:31,980

really believe this will give us

a lot of new insight into the

591

00:36:31,980 --> 00:36:36,600

sun's activity cycle. So what

ultimately drives these 11 year

592

00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,170

periodic changes in the magnetic

field activity of the sun.

593

00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,320

Tereza Pultarova: So when do we

expect the next scientific

594

00:36:43,470 --> 00:36:44,970

results, the next images?

595

00:36:45,810 --> 00:36:48,750

Daniel Müller: Well, the next

images will probably be taken at

596

00:36:48,750 --> 00:36:54,360

the next let's say, intermediate

perihelion, roughly short,

597

00:36:54,390 --> 00:37:00,180

little below 0 point five AU, so

it's little closer than the

598

00:37:00,180 --> 00:37:04,080

images we've seen now. We'll see

that during the cruise phase,

599

00:37:04,110 --> 00:37:09,210

and then in March 2022, we'll

get into the full blown Science

600

00:37:09,210 --> 00:37:12,090

phase with unprecedented

resolution. So this will be the

601

00:37:12,090 --> 00:37:14,400

main milestone to look out for.

602

00:37:15,270 --> 00:37:18,540

Tereza Pultarova: Thank you. And

Chris, can you tell us what's

603

00:37:18,540 --> 00:37:20,250

next for the in situ

instruments?

604

00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,290

Chris Owen: Well, yes, as Daniel

said, in fact, those of us that

605

00:37:24,290 --> 00:37:27,500

are associated with a an in situ

instrument are lucky enough to

606

00:37:27,590 --> 00:37:29,720

benefit from the fact that

there's enough telemetry

607

00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,200

bandwidth for us to be turned on

and operating pretty much

608

00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,230

continuously through the cruise

phase and the entire mission. So

609

00:37:36,530 --> 00:37:39,920

the crews phase already started

on June the 15th. So we are the

610

00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:43,310

four instruments in the in situ

group are returning data as we

611

00:37:43,310 --> 00:37:47,030

speak, and we will be using that

together long term data sets on

612

00:37:47,030 --> 00:37:50,870

the nature of the solar wind.

And there are lots of

613

00:37:50,900 --> 00:37:53,690

interesting physical things, you

know, fundamental physical

614

00:37:53,690 --> 00:37:56,810

things from an plasma and

astrophysical point of view,

615

00:37:57,170 --> 00:37:59,600

that go on in the solar wind

itself and a big community of

616

00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,390

scientists will be eagerly

looking forward to that data to

617

00:38:02,390 --> 00:38:08,750

study things like turbulence and

shocks and various plasma

618

00:38:08,750 --> 00:38:12,140

instabilities. And as well also

to address some of the sort of

619

00:38:12,140 --> 00:38:16,310

the space weather aspects of how

the sun affects the earth. So we

620

00:38:16,310 --> 00:38:20,540

will be detecting coronal mass

ejections and solar energetic

621

00:38:20,540 --> 00:38:22,430

particles, etc. So

622

00:38:22,990 --> 00:38:24,640

Tereza Pultarova: I know that

they're also we have mentioned

623

00:38:24,670 --> 00:38:27,070

we have mentioned the Parker

Solar Probe, but I understand

624

00:38:27,070 --> 00:38:29,800

that also some interesting

opportunities to work together

625

00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,950

with BepiColombo, which is

another is a missions that is

626

00:38:32,950 --> 00:38:34,030

now heading towards.

627

00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:36,370

Chris Owen: Yes, Yes, for sure.

So, I mean, Holly,

628

00:38:36,370 --> 00:38:38,350

Tereza Pultarova: Can you tell

us a little bit about these

629

00:38:38,380 --> 00:38:39,790

cooperation opportunities?

630

00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:42,420

Chris Owen: Yeah. So So Holly

talked about Parker Solar Probe.

631

00:38:42,420 --> 00:38:45,150

And, and we are certainly

looking over the horizon for

632

00:38:45,150 --> 00:38:47,820

those alignments where we will

make sure we take the best

633

00:38:47,820 --> 00:38:50,730

measurements we can. But you

know, later on in the middle of

634

00:38:50,730 --> 00:38:56,280

next year, there's a very close

meeting of BepiColombo and solar

635

00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:00,900

orbiter, so we'll be able to

make your point measurements of

636

00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:04,710

say CMEs. And now, there's some

limitations about only having

637

00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:07,440

measurements at one point. So

almost every opportunity that we

638

00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,290

can grab to, to make multi point

measurements when the

639

00:39:10,290 --> 00:39:14,610

spacecraft, you know, getting to

a useful alignment will be

640

00:39:14,610 --> 00:39:17,910

taking that over the next 18

months before we we start to get

641

00:39:17,910 --> 00:39:20,490

into the full science face. So

lots of science to do. In the

642

00:39:20,490 --> 00:39:20,790

meantime,

643

00:39:20,790 --> 00:39:23,100

Tereza Pultarova: I just

explained you said CME. So maybe

644

00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:25,560

some of our viewers don't

understand, it's coronal mass

645

00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,860

ejections,  and they spread from

the sun and you can measure them

646

00:39:28,860 --> 00:39:31,350

at various points as they sort

of like evolve.

647

00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:33,990

Chris Owen: We see them coming,

we see them coming out from the

648

00:39:33,990 --> 00:39:36,660

sun in the images and we detect

them in interplanetary space and

649

00:39:36,660 --> 00:39:39,510

when they when they hit the

Earth system, they can cause

650

00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:42,330

quite a lot of disruptions was

is kind of important space

651

00:39:42,330 --> 00:39:48,090

weather phenomena to understand

better and that will certainly

652

00:39:48,090 --> 00:39:48,930

contribute to that.

653

00:39:49,470 --> 00:39:50,880

Tereza Pultarova: And I

understand it's quite unique to

654

00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,610

have this network of spacecraft

measuring it like this is

655

00:39:54,270 --> 00:39:57,600

Chris Owen: Certainly I mean

it's a it's a fantastic fleet to

656

00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,480

have now for the inner

heliosphere. I mean, I guess

657

00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,510

we've always looked for these

kind of opportunities. But yes,

658

00:40:03,510 --> 00:40:06,270

it's a kind of a rich time at

the moment for this this kind of

659

00:40:06,270 --> 00:40:06,810

science.

660

00:40:07,620 --> 00:40:11,520

Tereza Pultarova: Thank you.

Sami, David, the images from EUI

661

00:40:11,730 --> 00:40:15,270

and PHI that we have seen today

were taken from almost twice the

662

00:40:15,270 --> 00:40:19,080

distance that Solar orbiter is

meant to operate once in its

663

00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:23,220

science phase. And so I have two

questions for both of you. How

664

00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:26,760

much better will the images get?

And what are you looking forward

665

00:40:26,790 --> 00:40:29,820

to see? So I wonder, David, do

you want to go first?

666

00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:33,950

David Berghmans: Yes. So

obviously, like you say, if we

667

00:40:33,950 --> 00:40:38,720

fly twice closer, or our images

will get twice sharper, but it's

668

00:40:38,750 --> 00:40:41,360

it's going to be much better

than that, I believe. You have

669

00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,030

to remember that the current

data that we are showing today

670

00:40:44,510 --> 00:40:47,300

are merely byproducts of

technical tests that we were

671

00:40:47,300 --> 00:40:51,230

doing. These images are not

optimized yet or the instruments

672

00:40:51,230 --> 00:40:56,180

are not fully configured yet. So

while we improve on that, I

673

00:40:56,180 --> 00:40:59,480

expect also that will improve

the images by at least a factor

674

00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:04,790

of two in scontrast in sharpness

in all sorts of ways. And so I'm

675

00:41:04,820 --> 00:41:08,600

I'm also at the spacecraft level

by the way, steering a

676

00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:11,870

spacecraft is a complicated

business and so also there are

677

00:41:11,900 --> 00:41:16,610

optimizations are ongoing that

will improve the image quality.

678

00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:22,670

Now, what I'm looking forward to

is we have presented today

679

00:41:22,700 --> 00:41:26,630

perhaps the first evidence of of

what Daniel explains the nano

680

00:41:26,630 --> 00:41:30,080

flare theory with the campfires.

But there are competing theories

681

00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,860

out there based on on waves

traveling through the solar

682

00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:37,730

corona and we know that with the

present instruments we should be

683

00:41:37,730 --> 00:41:41,300

able to observe and so on, I'm

much looking forward to also

684

00:41:41,300 --> 00:41:43,790

collect evidence for the

competing theories and then

685

00:41:44,660 --> 00:41:48,680

evaluate which theories is the

most prominent one or the most

686

00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,950

correct one, perhaps, in which

circumstances and that's going

687

00:41:51,950 --> 00:41:53,390

to be very exciting, I believe.

688

00:41:54,590 --> 00:41:56,900

Tereza Pultarova: Sami, from

your perspective.

689

00:41:57,830 --> 00:42:02,630

Sami Solanki: So indeed, I think

I can echo David's words, our

690

00:42:02,630 --> 00:42:07,850

instrument as well is not yet in

the state where we hope it will

691

00:42:07,850 --> 00:42:10,730

be in one and a half years time

when we get into the science

692

00:42:10,730 --> 00:42:14,690

phase. And so the data that we

are seeing now, although

693

00:42:14,900 --> 00:42:18,650

optically we can already say

that the instrument is really

694

00:42:18,650 --> 00:42:22,790

far better than we had dare to

hope, but still, the data will

695

00:42:22,790 --> 00:42:26,600

improve and then they will get

better again because it will

696

00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:30,980

have much higher resolution by

being closer to the sun. But the

697

00:42:30,980 --> 00:42:34,610

thing I'm really looking forward

to is the phase when solar

698

00:42:34,610 --> 00:42:38,090

orbiter goes out of the ecliptic

and looks down at the poles. The

699

00:42:38,090 --> 00:42:43,610

Poles are terra incognita. It's

like, you know, the earth 150

700

00:42:43,610 --> 00:42:47,990

years ago, nobody had been at

the poles. So there will be a

701

00:42:47,990 --> 00:42:51,020

lot of new things to learn

there. And one of the things

702

00:42:51,020 --> 00:42:55,310

which excites me the most is, we

know that the magnetic field is

703

00:42:55,310 --> 00:42:59,510

responsible for all the activity

that the sun produces, but we

704

00:42:59,510 --> 00:43:03,020

don't know Know how the magnetic

field itself is produced. We

705

00:43:03,020 --> 00:43:07,760

think it's a dynamo that is

doing that inside the sun a

706

00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,940

little bit similar to a dynamo

inside the earth, which produces

707

00:43:10,940 --> 00:43:14,840

the Earth's magnetic field. But

we really don't know how it

708

00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:19,340

functions. But we do know that

the poles play a key role in

709

00:43:19,340 --> 00:43:23,030

that. However, we don't have the

data and that is where solar

710

00:43:23,030 --> 00:43:25,310

orbiter will also revolutionize

things.

711

00:43:26,060 --> 00:43:27,980

Tereza Pultarova: That'ss

fantastic. So let's have a look

712

00:43:28,010 --> 00:43:31,640

at some of the questions that we

have received from the

713

00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:35,840

journalists. I have a question

here from Lisa Grossman from

714

00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:40,700

science news. When will solar

orbiter take its first pictures

715

00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:44,990

of the sun's poles? So I guess

Daniel, would you like to take

716

00:43:44,990 --> 00:43:46,490

this answer or Jose?

717

00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:52,850

Daniel Müller: I can do that,

Tereza. We will, as we explained

718

00:43:52,850 --> 00:43:57,860

earlier, be gradually leaving

the ecliptic plane. So it'll

719

00:43:57,890 --> 00:44:02,570

it'll be let's say not on fixed

date but I can give you a date

720

00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:08,000

to work with, and that is in in

2025, we will be at an angle

721

00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,030

where it starts getting

interesting. And then in the

722

00:44:11,030 --> 00:44:16,010

beginning of 2027 will reach an

angle from which I think

723

00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,550

especially Sami will be just

delighted to get all this data.

724

00:44:19,550 --> 00:44:23,390

So roughly about five years from

now, this is when the polar

725

00:44:23,390 --> 00:44:26,480

science starts coming and it

will be fantastic, I'm sure.

726

00:44:27,290 --> 00:44:29,840

Tereza Pultarova: And thank you.

Our next question is from a

727

00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:33,290

journalist called Thurston

Dumbecht from a German

728

00:44:33,290 --> 00:44:40,010

newspaper. And he asks, when can

we expect more solar activity so

729

00:44:40,010 --> 00:44:43,100

that the solar orbiter could

even see more exciting things

730

00:44:43,130 --> 00:44:46,610

going on at the sun compared to

the quiet phase happening now?

731

00:44:46,700 --> 00:44:48,890

So I assume Sami, would you like

to take this question?

732

00:44:51,510 --> 00:44:55,770

Sami Solanki: Yes, I can. I can

try. A little bit the problem is

733

00:44:55,770 --> 00:45:00,690

that we cannot really predict

when activity picks Up on the

734

00:45:00,690 --> 00:45:05,310

sun, however we can we have

expectations and the expectation

735

00:45:05,310 --> 00:45:09,930

is that it should start to pick

up we see already the first