China on Tuesday released the first batch of images captured by the country's first multipurpose solar probe at a press conference at the National Space Science Center in Beijing.
The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), dubbed Kuafu-1, has been operating in orbit 720 kilometers from the Earth, facing the sun since its launch in October. It is the world's first near-Earth satellite telescope to simultaneously monitor solar flares, coronal mass ejections and the sun's magnetic field. (CGTN)
China's first solar probe, Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), is scheduled to be launched into space in the first half of 2022, marking the country's first-ever mission to "touch" the sun. The satellite will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above Earth to keep a close tab on the sun 24 hours a day. Measuring about 1,000 kg in total mass, the satellite is expected to orbit the sun for at least four years, according to the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China will launch its first solar probe, the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), in October. The 888-kilogram satellite, scheduled to depart from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, has undergone more than five years of research and development. Designed to operate at an altitude of 720 km, the satellite will complete one sun-synchronous orbit every 90 minutes.
86-10-68597521 (day)
86-10-68597289 (night)
52 Sanlihe Rd., Xicheng District,
Beijing, China (100864)
Copyright © 2002 - Chinese Academy of Sciences
