ESA’s Solar Orbiter Spacecraft Has Skimmed Earth For A Risky Gravity Assist

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

On November 27, after a year and eight months flying through the inner Solar System, Solar Orbiter [swung] by home to drop off' some extra energy. This will line the spacecraft up for its next six flybys of Venus. These final gravity assists will hone and tilt Solar Orbiter's orbit, enabling the heat-protected probe to capture the first-ever direct images of our star's poles, and much more.

During the upcoming flyby, Solar Orbiter is estimated to pass just 460 km from Earth's surface at its closest approach - about 30 kilometers above the path of the International Space Station. It will travel twice through the Geostationary ring at 36 000 kilometers from Earth's surface and even through low-Earth orbit, below 2000 kilometers - two regions littered with space junk. [(Graphic by ESA)]

Before we worry too much, let's start by pointing out that the chance of Solar Orbiter being struck by debris is very, very, very small. Earth observation missions spend their entire life in low-Earth orbit - the most debris-filled region of space, and while they perform collision avoidance maneuvers' a few times per year, Solar Orbiter will spend only a few minutes here as it heads towards closest approach and then leaves again, onward to Venus.

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