Listen to: ESA's riskiest flyby

In the latest episode of ESA Explores Space Operations, we talk to Julia Schwartz, expert in flight dynamics, and Klaus Merz, space debris, about Solar Orbiter's upcoming risky Earth flyby.

On 27 Nov, Solar Orbiter will pass almost as close as the International Space Station in one of the closest flybys on record, which will see the spacecraft pass through two regions of hazardous debris. Could Solar Orbiter swerve from collision, if needed? Has the recent 'fragmentation event' increased the risk?

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