The Sun, the heart of our solar system, is a powerful ball of burning plasma that provides the energy essential for life on Earth. Despite its importance, the Sun’s intense heat and radiation make it challenging to study up close. Understanding the Sun’s behavior is crucial, as solar activity—including solar flares and coronal mass ejections—can affect space weather, impacting satellites, power grids, and communications on Earth.
Over the past several decades, a series of missions have been launched to study the Sun’s structure, atmosphere, and magnetic fields, revealing complex dynamics and helping scientists better predict solar events. These missions have provided transformative insights into the Sun’s processes, the solar wind, and how solar activity affects the entire solar system.
Key Missions to The Sun
Missions like SOHO, Parker Solar Probe, and Solar Orbiter have each contributed unique data, revealing the Sun’s complexity and unlocking new knowledge about its effects throughout the solar system. Together, these missions are helping scientists answer fundamental questions about our closest star, improving our ability to understand and predict solar phenomena that impact space and life on Earth.
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) (1995-Present)
Launched as a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), SOHO has been one of the most successful solar observation missions in history. Positioned at a stable point between Earth and the Sun, SOHO continuously monitors solar activity, capturing detailed images of the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona, and studying solar wind and space weather.
SOHO has been instrumental in understanding the structure of the Sun’s outer layers, observing sunspots, and tracking solar storms. It has also discovered thousands of comets near the Sun. Originally planned as a two-year mission, SOHO has far exceeded its lifespan and continues to provide invaluable data on solar behavior.
- Status: Highly successful and still operational.
STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) (2006-Present)
NASA’s STEREO mission consists of two spacecraft launched in 2006 to orbit the Sun in tandem, one ahead of Earth and the other behind. This configuration provides a three-dimensional view of the Sun, allowing scientists to observe solar storms and other phenomena from multiple perspectives.
STEREO’s data has improved our ability to predict solar eruptions and understand the propagation of solar storms through space, enhancing space weather forecasting. Although one of the spacecraft lost communication in 2014, the remaining spacecraft continues to provide valuable data, enabling a unique vantage point on the Sun’s activity.
- Status: Partially successful, with ongoing contributions from one spacecraft.
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) (2004-2015)
MESSENGER, a NASA mission launched in 2004, was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. It used a complex series of flybys—one of Earth, two of Venus, and three of Mercury itself—to gradually slow down enough to enter Mercury’s orbit in 2011.
During its four years in orbit, MESSENGER mapped nearly 100% of Mercury’s surface, studied its unique geology, and provided data on its thin atmosphere (exosphere) and magnetic field. One of MESSENGER’s most remarkable discoveries was the identification of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury’s poles. The mission ended in 2015 when MESSENGER ran out of fuel and deliberately crashed into Mercury’s surface.
- Status: Highly successful.
Parker Solar Probe (2018-Present)
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, is the first spacecraft designed to fly through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. Built to withstand extreme heat and radiation, Parker Solar Probe orbits closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, reaching distances as close as 4 million miles from its surface.
The mission aims to answer fundamental questions about solar wind acceleration, magnetic field dynamics, and the high temperatures in the Sun’s corona, which are far hotter than its surface. Early data from Parker has already revealed surprising details about solar wind and magnetic switchbacks in the corona, transforming scientists’ understanding of solar processes.
- Status: Highly successful and ongoing, with each orbit bringing the probe closer to the Sun.
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) (2010-Present)
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched in 2010 to provide high-definition images and continuous monitoring of the Sun. Equipped with powerful instruments that capture solar images in various wavelengths, SDO has offered unprecedented views of solar flares, sunspots, and coronal loops.
SDO’s detailed imagery has enabled scientists to study solar magnetic fields and energy release processes, helping them understand the Sun’s influence on the space environment. SDO has been highly successful in providing insights into the Sun’s complex magnetic structure and the origins of solar storms.
- Status: Highly successful and ongoing, with continuous monitoring capabilities.
Solar Orbiter (2020-Present)
Launched by the European Space Agency with NASA’s collaboration, Solar Orbiter aims to study the Sun’s poles and magnetic field dynamics. With its innovative heat-resistant shield, Solar Orbiter is designed to observe regions of the Sun that were previously difficult to study, including its polar regions.
By orbiting in a unique path that takes it out of the ecliptic plane, Solar Orbiter will provide the first-ever close-up images of the Sun’s poles, helping scientists understand how solar cycles are generated. The mission is expected to complement Parker Solar Probe’s data, offering a new perspective on the Sun’s behavior and its influence on the solar system.
- Status: Successful and ongoing, with new data expected to enhance understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field and polar regions.
