Here are some graphs and data related to the Solar Orbiter mission.
Index
- Real-time data (2021-11-05)
- Mission events (2021-11-05)
- Orbital elements (2021-11-05)
- Flybys (2021-11-05)
Unless otherwise stated, the following applies.
Data file: graphs and comments are based on the ESA SPICE Service, Solar Orbiter Operational SPICE Kernel Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-kt1577e.
File used: solo_ANC_soc-orbit_20200210-20301120_L007_V1_00118_V01.bsp; it contains the ephemeris of the SOLO spacecraft as delivered by the Flight Dynamics team on October 26, 2021.
Coordinates: the coordinates are geometric (no corrections for aberration, light-time, etc.).
Reference frames: in addition to the well-known frames related to the Earth and to the ecliptic, the Heliocentric Inertial (HCI) frame is also used: the X-Y plane is defined by the Sun's equator of epoch J2000; the +Z axis is parallel to the Sun's rotation axis of epoch J2000, pointing toward the Sun's north pole; the +X axis is defined by the ascending node of the Sun's equatorial plane on the ecliptic plane of J2000; +Y completes the right-handed frame; the origin of this frame is the Sun's center of mass.
Radius of the bodies: Venus is modeled as a sphere with a radius of 6051.8 km. The Earth is modeled as an ellipsoid with equatorial radius of 6378.1366 km and polar radius of 6356.7519 km.
S/C solar latitude: is the elevation angle of the s/c above the plane of the Sun's equator. The coordinates of the Sun's north celestial pole are given in the paper: Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2009 table 1 (R.A. = 286.13 deg, DE = 63.87 deg).
Interactive graphs: all the graphs are rendered with plotly.js, an open-source JavaScript graphing library to generate dynamic and interactive graphs. When plotly.js is used, the page could take a few seconds to load.
Earth Observation Portal link: Solar Orbiter Mission.