Proba-3 will constantly measure Sun’s energy output

Proba-3 is such an ambitious mission that it needs more than one single spacecraft to succeed. In order for Proba-3’s Coronagraph spacecraft to observe the Sun’s faint surrounding atmosphere, its disk-bearing Occulter spacecraft must block out the fiery solar disk. This means Proba-3’s Occulter ends up facing the Sun continuously, making it a valuable platform for science in its own right.

Proba-3 Occulter and Coronagraph spacecraft

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

DARA undergoing ground testing

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

SOHO solar observatory

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

DARA instrument

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

Proba-3

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

Proba-3 orbit

Wolfgang adds: “Total solar irradiance varies along with the 11-year cycle of solar activity, and one of the most obvious ways to look for long-term energy drift is to compare total solar irradiance between consecutive solar minimia.

“This requires a long time-series of data, ideally coming from multiple instruments because single radiometers will undergo degradation in sensitivity from the hard ultraviolet in the Sun’s rays they are continuously exposed to. That said, any degradation is very gradual: the radiometer aboard the ESA-NASA SOHO solar observatory for instance, which was launched in back 1995, is still working satisfactorily.”

Eclipse-making double-satellite Proba-3

Proba-3 will constantly measure Sun’s energy output

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