The Proba-3 space mission is made up of two satellites flying in formation with unprecedented precision to observe the solar corona. VIDEOGRAPHIC
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00:00The Probe 3 space mission by the European Space Agency comprises two satellites which
00:13must fly in a precise formation to observe the mysterious solar corona.
00:17The solar corona is the exterior layer of the Sun's atmosphere.
00:21It is a cloud extending over millions of kilometers and is the origin of the solar wind.
00:26During eclipses we can see, with the naked eye, its luminous halo which overlaps the
00:31edge of the Moon, but for the rest of the time it is hidden by the light of the Sun
00:35and is difficult to observe.
00:37Observation of the corona didn't start until the 20th century with the invention of the
00:41coronagraph, a telescope which has the equivalent of a lunar disk to simulate the conditions
00:47of an eclipse.
00:48Probe 3 will use this technology by creating for the first time a giant coronagraph.
00:54Two satellites will fly in tandem in a high Earth orbit.
00:58The first will block out the Sun, like the Moon during an eclipse, while the other, 144
01:03meters behind, will study the halo.
01:06Using this method to simulate 6 hours of eclipse by day, the two satellites must be coordinated
01:11to the nearest millimeter, a precision never previously achieved.
01:16Among the mysteries scientists are hoping to uncover is why the temperature of the corona
01:21reaches millions of degrees while the surface of the Sun is only 6,000 degrees.