The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, secured inside the payload fairing, is photographed atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida prior to beginning its roll to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Feb. 8, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch Feb. 9, 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.
Information
Taken in
Kennedy Space Center
Author
NASA/Kim Shiflett
Description
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, secured inside the payload fairing, is photographed atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida prior to beginning its roll to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Feb. 8, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch Feb. 9, 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.