Published by: Priyanka Deshpande
with text inputs from PTI
As the Indian Space Research Organisation is set to launch its solar mission Aditya-L1 on September 2, following are some important missions launched by space agencies of different countries exploring the Sun.
Image credit: ISRO
In August 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe. In December 2021, it ventured into the Sun's corona, becoming the first spacecraft to make direct contact with the Sun.
Image credit: NASA
NASA along with European Space Agency (ESA) in February 2020 launched The Solar Orbiter to gather data on the Sun's role in shaping the dynamic space environment across the solar system.
Image credit: ESA
Advanced Composition Explorer launched in August, 1997; Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory in October, 2006; Solar Dynamics Observatory in February, 2010; & Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph launched in June, 2013.
Image credit: NASA
Also, in December, 1995, NASA, ESA & JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) jointly launched the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
Image credit: NASA
JAXA, the Japan's space agency, launched its first solar observation satellite in 1981. The objective was to study solar flares using hard X-rays.
Image credit: JAXA
An observatory satellite, it was launched in 2006 as the successor to Yohkoh (SOLAR-A). It was launched along with US & UK to study the impact of the Sun on the Earth.
Image credit: NASA
Yohkoh (SOLAR-A) launched in 1991; SOHO (along with NASA & ESA) in 1995; & Transient Region & Coronal Explorer (TRACE), along with NASA, in 1998.
Image credit: JAXA
The European Space Agency in October 1990 launched Ulysses to study the environment of space above and below the poles of the Sun.
Image credit: ESA
ESA along with NASA & JAXA launched Proba-2 in October 2001. On-Board Proba-2 were four experiments, two of them were solar observation experiments.
Image credit: ESA
Proba-3, scheduled for 2024 & Smile, scheduled for 2025.
Image credit: ESA
The National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), on October 8, 2022 successfully launched ASO-S.
Image credit: ASO-S