La missione "Solar Orbiter", dopo oltre 10 anni di preparazione, sarà lanciata lunedì da Cape Canaveral, in Florida. A bordo del razzo Atlas V, che decollerà alle 23.03 ora locale (le 5.03 svizzere), ci sarà anche STIX, un telescopio a raggi X messo a punto sotto la direzione dell'Alta scuola del nord-ovest della Svizzera (FHNW).
Si tratta di una missione dell'ESA, l'Agenzia spaziale europea, condotta in stretta collaborazione con la NASA, la sua corrispettiva americana. La sonda impiegherà due anni ad avvicinarsi a 45 milioni di chilometri dal Sole - una distanza che corrisponde a circa un quarto di quella che lo separa dalla Terra - per studiarne le regioni polari.
Il progetto mira a chiarire le cause del vento solare, un flusso di particelle cariche (essenzialmente protoni ed elettroni) emesse dal Sole.
Per farlo userà anche il telescopio STIX, realizzato da aziende e istituti svizzeri, in collaborazione con partner polacchi, francesi, italiani, tedeschi, austriaci, irlandesi e cechi, sotto la direzione della FHNW.
%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Layer_1'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20138.2%2048'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20138.2%2048;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23AF001E;}%20.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M0,48h138V0H0V48z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M9.3,31.7l-0.4,2.7C8.8,35,9,35.2,9.5,35.3c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3C11.8,12.4,9,14.9,9,19c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7%20l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.5c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C9.6,30.9,9.4,31,9.3,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M36.4,23.6l-0.3,1.5C36,25.4,36,25.6,36,25.9c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.4,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.6-2.6,3.6-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9h-7.8%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C37.1,22.7,36.8,22.3,36.4,23.6z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M66.1,34V22.7c0-0.7-0.2-1-0.9-1h-5.8c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v2.5c0,0.7,0.2,0.9,0.9,0.9h1.7v5%20c-0.6,0.1-1.1,0.1-1.7,0.1c-4.8,0-6-3.1-6-7.4c0-5.4,2-6.8,6.5-6.8c1.3,0,3.1,0.1,4.1,0.2c1,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.5%20c0.1-0.7,0-1-0.8-1.1c-1.8-0.2-3.6-0.3-5.4-0.2c-8.2,0-11.6,4.3-11.6,11.3s2.7,11.9,11.3,11.9c2,0.1,4,0,6-0.4%20C65.9,35.2,66.2,34.9,66.1,34'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M74.9,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C75.3,30.8,75,30.9,74.9,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M93.1,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3c-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3S93.1,30.9,93.1,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M120.2,23.6l-0.3,1.5c-0.1,0.3-0.1,0.5-0.1,0.8c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.3,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.7-2.7,3.7-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9H113%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C120.9,22.7,120.6,22.3,120.2,23.6'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)