With Two New Space Science Missions, ESA Will Fly to the Sun and Look For Dark Energy

Yesterday's dark energy Nobel award is just a coincidence, we're sure

By Clay Dillow Posted 10.05.2011 at 11:09 am 12 Comments

The View from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory The ESA has selected two new science missions, including a Solar Orbiter that will study the solar wind in unprecedented detail. NASA/SDO/Weather.com

The European Space Agency announced its next two space science missions yesterday, and given recent events they may not come as a huge surprise. The first will orbit the sun, coming closer to the solar surface than any previous science spacecraft to measure the solar wind and its influence on the planets to an unprecedented degree. The second will explore dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe--a characteristic whose discovery won three physicists the Nobel prize in physics yesterday.

The missions, Solar Orbiter and Euclid, are medium-class missions, which is ESA parlance for costing less than 470 million euros each (that’s about $625 million). They are slated for launch in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Given the recent uptick in solar activity as we head toward the solar maximum in 2013, the sun and its effects on Earth have been getting their fair share of ink lately. And they should be; a catastrophic solar flare could plunge entire regions into darkness for months, disable satellite communications, and potentially knock airliners from the sky. As such, Solar Orbiter aims to learn more about the solar wind--the flow of particles that constantly washes over the planets--by flying very close to the sun, closer than any probe before it. From there, it will observe exactly what accelerates the solar wind and sample the wind itself from points very close--relatively speaking--to the solar surface.

Then there’s Euclid, which will study phenomena much harder to see than the sun. Euclid will be more like a space telescope, mapping the large scale structure of the universe with unrivaled accuracy and searching for clues as to why its expansion is accelerating. That is, it will be searching for the keys to dark energy by peering 10 billion light years into the cosmos and reconstructing the process by which the universe expanded and its structure grew during the last three quarters of its lifetime.

The missions will be the first in the ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan, which will seek answers to four questions: What are the conditions for life and planetary formation? How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental laws of the Universe? How did the Universe begin and what is it made of?

A third mission, an exoplanet hunter named PLATO, was not given the green light but could be unshelved for a future flight competition later in the decade.

Previous Article: Robot Culture Machine Efficiently Grows Biological Cells Without Human Intervention

Next Article: Video: With Semantic Search, PR2 Robot Can Plan Its Own Sandwich-Hunting Mission

12 Comments

Link to this comment

pheonix1012

10/05/11 at 11:27 am

Maybe PLATO can find Atlantis.

Nice to see the ESA stepping their game up. I hope these missions succeed for the greater good.

Link to this comment

Midoman

10/05/11 at 12:28 pm

I think there should be an increased cooperation between Government Space Agencies worldwide. They should be regarded as ONE. Each agency would then be appointed special projects. Some manned, some unmanned. Some for Exploration others for deepening of knowledge and current theories. Anyways. If they could coordinate then they would be more efficient.

Link to this comment

10/05/11 at 12:35 pm

Our world is so apparently dependent upon electricity, electronics; computers on the ground as well as our space bound satellite computer electronics. Solar flares can devastate this type of electronics if not only for a moment, but in fact completely destroy it too with a powerful enough solar flare. I can definitely see why this type of science is important for practical reasons as well as scientific as well. Yes too, it's a world concern and interest.

It is exciting as well, of what new things we will learn about the sun!

Link to this comment

pheonix1012

10/05/11 at 12:52 pm

@Midoman

We may yet get to that point, and if any entities seek true global unity (not the botched type like with the U.N.) it just might be the nationally government aerospace agencies of the world. The rest of the world may never get that way, but such a union could deter internal conflict, increase international commerce, and establish a more interdependent, decentralized, but unified society (You know, what the U.N. is suppose to do but more effective, hopefully).

Link to this comment

barclay109

10/05/11 at 2:00 pm

its gonna suck when we spend millions to billions of $$$$$$$ on a telescope or satellite if a solar flare goes disintegrates it lol

Link to this comment

JediMindset

10/05/11 at 2:47 pm

reminds me of that one movie where they have to reset the sun. sunshine i think its called.

_________________
The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brain.

- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri

Link to this comment

Blue

10/05/11 at 3:58 pm

Somebody put the dimmer switch on this sun. It doesn't seem very bright to me! Odd?

Link to this comment

Blue

10/05/11 at 10:25 pm

Now I see an angry brow in the face of this sun with a frown face too. I really have to check what they are putting in my FRUIT LOOPS breafast ceral. This is so strange. And by the way, the sun picture has a bad hair day too.

Link to this comment

Blue

10/05/11 at 10:37 pm

I have written to the POPSCI webpage master, administrator and gotten no reply. So I write now. Sorry to distract from this article. But what does it do or what does it mean, when somebody clicks and highlights "Link to this comment". If my current comment seems unnessary or annoying, well it would have been helpful had somebody replied to my earlier request, hint hint... thank you. To end on a postive note. I LOVE POPSCI forever!

Link to this comment

10/06/11 at 11:24 am

I think some of the above comments are funny. Is funny allowed? Some of them were flag, so odd? And yet others were not flag that projected humor. I suppose there is always a critic in the rafters somewhere.

The picture of the sun is so amazing and beautiful!

Link to this comment

JediMindset

10/06/11 at 9:03 pm

@mp/blue

are you guys cyborg clones? i notice that your avatars are similar. could be coincidence.

_________________
The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brain.

- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri

Link to this comment

iMuslim

10/09/11 at 3:12 pm

@JediMindset: The Quote you have there is very untrue.

One example of a smart religious person is Ben Carson M.D. He was one of the top surgeons in the world; he and his team were the first in the world to successfully perform surgery on half of the brain; and in his book Gifted Hands, he owes all of his success to God.

Popular Tags

Technology

All Tags All Photos All Videos

Technology

+ More Photo Galleries

140 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.

Popular Science+ For iPad

Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page

Download Our App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing

Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed

April 2013: How It Works

For our annual How It Works issue, we break down everything from the massive Falcon Heavy rocket to a tiny DNA sequencer that connects to a USB port. We also take a look at an ambitious plan for faster-than-light travel and dive into the billion-dollar science of dog food.

Plus the latest Legos, Cadillac's plug-in hybrid, a tractor built for the apocalypse, and more.