Internationl Space Station with sunrise
Services 28 November 2012 - This weekend, the International Space Station will turn itself to position ESA's SOLAR instrument for a better view of the Sun. It will be the first time the Station has changed attitude for scientific reasons alone. SOLAR has been monitoring our Sun's output since it was installed on ESA's Columbus laboratory module in February 2008. The package will celebrate its fifth anniversary next year. "That is quite an achievement," says Nadia This, operations engineer at the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre that controls SOLAR. "The instrument was designed to work for only 18 months." SOLAR needs to be in direct view of the Sun to take measurements but the Space Station's normal orbit obscures the view for two weeks every month. "We want to record a complete rotation of the Sun and that takes around 25 days," explains Nadia.
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