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The payloads on Solar Orbiter
Artist's impression of the locations of the scientific instruments on Solar Orbiter. -
Extensive testing for Solar Orbiter in Germany
Solar Orbiter underwent thorough testing at the IABG in Ottobrunn, near Munich, in 2019. The spacecraft is shown here in the magnetic field simulator in June. This test was important to confirm that the magnetic field generated by the orbiter itself is low enough to not disturb the sensitive magnetometer on board. -
Artist's impression of Solar Orbiter in front of the glowing sun
ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft is scheduled for launch from NASA's Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 5 February 2020, beginning its journey to the centre of the Solar System. Four German research institutes are involved in the mission. The DLR Space Administration financed the development and construction of the German scientific instruments and contribution to the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. -
Exoplanet discovered by the Nobel Laureates Mayor and Queloz
This artist's impression shows the extrasolar planet 51 Pegasi b, which was discovered in 1995 by Swiss astronomers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor and is located approximately 50 light years away. The two Geneva scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019 for this discovery. The name Dimidium was given to the first extrasolar planet discovered orbiting a Sun-like star in a naming competition organised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The word means 'half' and is intended to indicate that the planet has about half the mass of the planet Jupiter. Dimidium orbits its star Helvetios (51 Pegasi) in the constellation Pegasus, the 'flying horse' in the northern starry sky – in only 4.2 days and on a very tight orbit of only eight million kilometres. This heats up its gas shell to almost 1000 degrees Celsius, which is why the exoplanet is also classified as a 'hot Jupiter'. -
Topographic overview of the highland region to the southeast of Valles Marineris
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) operated by DLR on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft imaged the marked strip during orbit 18,818. The landscapes shown in the images in this set are located in the smaller rectangle. In total, Nirgal Vallis stretches 700 kilometres, running west to east across the southern Martian Highlands. It eventually opens into the large outflow channel Uzboi Vallis, which drained this part of the central Martian Highlands towards the north.
