* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, October 6, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Charlie Hunnam Reflects on Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story – Yahoo

    Charlie Hunnam Reveals the Dark Challenges of Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story

    “Reba” cast, then and now: See the stars 24 years later (and who’s reunited for another show) – Yahoo

    “Reba” cast, then and now: See the stars 24 years later (and who’s reunited for another show) – Yahoo

    Why Taylor Swift Name-Dropped Elizabeth Taylor in Her New Album – Yahoo

    Here’s Why Taylor Swift Dropped Elizabeth Taylor’s Name in Her New Album

    Al Roker Gives Olivia Dean an Unexpected ‘New Job’ on the ‘Today’ Show – Yahoo

    Al Roker Shocks Olivia Dean with an Exciting New Role on the ‘Today’ Show

    Books about the arts and some haunts for a Denton October – Denton Record-Chronicle

    Uncover Artistic Treasures and Spooky Adventures to Experience in Denton This October

    Taylor Swift Releases New Album The Life of a Showgirl : Listen and Read the Full Credits – Yahoo

    Taylor Swift Releases New Album The Life of a Showgirl : Listen and Read the Full Credits – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Forget Cowbells. Cows Wear High-Tech Collars Now. – The New York Times

    Ditch the Cowbells: Discover the High-Tech Collars Transforming Cattle Care

    What the Recent Price Surge Means for Figure Technology Solutions After SEC Settlement – Yahoo Finance

    What the Recent Price Surge Reveals About Figure Technology Solutions Following SEC Settlement

    MAC Brings iPad Technology to Football Sidelines Across All 13 Member Schools – Sports Video Group

    MAC Brings iPad Technology to Football Sidelines Across All 13 Member Schools – Sports Video Group

    Technology Is Becoming More Important Than Humans In CX – No Jitter

    Technology Is Becoming More Important Than Humans In CX – No Jitter

    A Tech Expo Shows What China Can Make, but Not Who’ll Buy It All – The New York Times

    Inside China’s Tech Expo: Cutting-Edge Innovations Face Uncertain Demand

    Steampunk Metal Oval Technology Sense Sunglasses Personality Handmade Chain Multicolor Sunglasses UV400 – The San Joaquin Valley Sun

    Steampunk Metal Oval Sunglasses with Handmade Multicolor Chain – Bold UV400 Protection and Unique Style

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Charlie Hunnam Reflects on Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story – Yahoo

    Charlie Hunnam Reveals the Dark Challenges of Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story

    “Reba” cast, then and now: See the stars 24 years later (and who’s reunited for another show) – Yahoo

    “Reba” cast, then and now: See the stars 24 years later (and who’s reunited for another show) – Yahoo

    Why Taylor Swift Name-Dropped Elizabeth Taylor in Her New Album – Yahoo

    Here’s Why Taylor Swift Dropped Elizabeth Taylor’s Name in Her New Album

    Al Roker Gives Olivia Dean an Unexpected ‘New Job’ on the ‘Today’ Show – Yahoo

    Al Roker Shocks Olivia Dean with an Exciting New Role on the ‘Today’ Show

    Books about the arts and some haunts for a Denton October – Denton Record-Chronicle

    Uncover Artistic Treasures and Spooky Adventures to Experience in Denton This October

    Taylor Swift Releases New Album The Life of a Showgirl : Listen and Read the Full Credits – Yahoo

    Taylor Swift Releases New Album The Life of a Showgirl : Listen and Read the Full Credits – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Forget Cowbells. Cows Wear High-Tech Collars Now. – The New York Times

    Ditch the Cowbells: Discover the High-Tech Collars Transforming Cattle Care

    What the Recent Price Surge Means for Figure Technology Solutions After SEC Settlement – Yahoo Finance

    What the Recent Price Surge Reveals About Figure Technology Solutions Following SEC Settlement

    MAC Brings iPad Technology to Football Sidelines Across All 13 Member Schools – Sports Video Group

    MAC Brings iPad Technology to Football Sidelines Across All 13 Member Schools – Sports Video Group

    Technology Is Becoming More Important Than Humans In CX – No Jitter

    Technology Is Becoming More Important Than Humans In CX – No Jitter

    A Tech Expo Shows What China Can Make, but Not Who’ll Buy It All – The New York Times

    Inside China’s Tech Expo: Cutting-Edge Innovations Face Uncertain Demand

    Steampunk Metal Oval Technology Sense Sunglasses Personality Handmade Chain Multicolor Sunglasses UV400 – The San Joaquin Valley Sun

    Steampunk Metal Oval Sunglasses with Handmade Multicolor Chain – Bold UV400 Protection and Unique Style

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Technology

30 years and still sunbathing: SOHO probe continues work as a space weatherman

December 27, 2023
in Technology
30 years and still sunbathing: SOHO probe continues work as a space weatherman
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Space Extenders II SOHO, a joint ESA and NASA mission, is still going strong after almost thirty years since launch and at this point the craft is an essential part of space infrastructure.

SOHO mission manager Luis Sánchez Duarte describes the spacecraft as being far from a “spring chicken,” having dedicated decades to studying the Sun.

“It has its quirks,” he tells The Register. “It actually has some single points of failure these days. For example, the battery. As long as we can maintain the orientation towards the Sun, everything’s fine. But if there’s a mishap and we lose the orientation, something bad may happen.”

That said, aside from a few degradations and the odd near-death experience, the spacecraft continues to perform admirably. It’s a testament to its designers.

According to Sánchez, the key instrument – the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) – “is working just fine.”

“SOHO has moved from the cutting edge of physics research into being a monitoring tool,” Sánchez says. Its main application is in space weather forecasting, which is what keeps the spacecraft operating.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses data from SOHO to monitor solar activity. “The main operational requirement that we have is to have LASCO data more or less continuously, with gaps no longer than four hours.”

From this data, predictions can be made and alerts issued. While monitoring space weather was not the primary goal when SOHO was launched in the 1990s, data from the spacecraft about solar phenomena has kept it going and will keep it flying until a replacement is finally launched.

There is a veritable fleet of spacecraft observing the Sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched in 2010, the agency’s Parker Solar Probe flew through the corona of the Sun in 2021, and Sánchez’s Solar Orbiter launched in 2020.

However, in the absence of a spacecraft able to do what SOHO can do it lingers on. SOHO is slowly orbiting around Lagrange point L1 from where it monitors solar flares, etc. While there are other spacecraft in the region, LASCO is what makes SOHO unique. NOAA does have plans for another spacecraft — the Space Weather Follow On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) mission — which will also feature a Coronagraph but, according to Sánchez, it is unlikely to launch before May 2025.

“Once a replacement is operational, our guess is that NOAA will cease funding SOHO as part of space infrastructure.” And that will be that.

Surviving eclipse season and resurrecting 25-year-old software with Windows for Workgroups 3.11: One year with Mars Express

Once considered lost, ESA and NASA’s SOHO came back from the brink of death to work even better than it did before

Out on a tangent: Almost two decades into its 5-year mission, INTEGRAL still delivers the gamma ray goods

The ultimate 4-wheel-drive: How ESA’s keeping XMM-Newton alive after 20 years and beyond

SOHO is in the happy position of having enough fuel for decades, according to Sánchez. It only uses its propulsion for momentum management, which occurs approximately once every three months. “The reaction wheels will typically have some momentum and speed up, and then you have to slow them down.”

However, while the fuel levels might be OK, Sánchez is concerned over the state of the solar arrays. The degradation rate of the power produced drops by slightly less than 1 percent per year. Initially, this degradation wasn’t a worry however the spacecraft has surpassed all reasonable lifespan expectations.

SOHO’s power-generating capability is affected by its environment. For example, a major solar storm will have an impact: things recover “but never to the same level,” he says.

At some point SOHO will not have enough power to keep its instruments running, although current predictions have this point occurring in the next decade. As a reminder, SOHO’s design life was for two years, with enough consumables on board for another four years. Engineers have managed to eke this out to 28 years and counting.

Power aside, SOHO is notable for being the first three-axis spacecraft to operate without gyros. The last failed in 1998, and gyroless control software was installed in 1999. However, this means the spacecraft’s reaction wheels must fulfill the role of a virtual gyro. And those wheels are getting old.

Sánchez tells us a story of talking to an engineer with a reaction wheel similar to one of SOHO’s running on the bench. “He told me: ‘You know, people are very worried about reaction wheels. And reaction wheels are one of the subsystems that are the most robust in the system; they are very well understood’.”

And SOHO has a very well-defined envelope of operation. Solar storms aside, it sits in a relatively benign environment. There are no significant temperature changes – the spacecraft is always approximately the same distance from the Sun – and so despite being used for many applications, the reaction wheels continue to turn.

While ensuring that funding keeps flowing is always a challenge as the spacecraft approaches the 30th anniversary of its launch, the human factor must be considered. How do you go about supporting something that was designed more than three decades ago?

It’s a problem many software engineers face, and old spacecraft are not so different. Sánchez tells us: “If there’s interest in maintaining [SOHO] operations, the knowledge will be passed on.”

According to the SOHO mission manager, all that is really required is the will to keep flying. ®

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Register – https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/12/26/soho_space_infrastructure/

Tags: sunbathingtechnologyYears
Previous Post

How thermal management is changing in the age of the kilowatt chip

Next Post

Postgres pioneer Michael Stonebraker promises to upend the database once more

Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo fumble away a Giant opportunity vs. Saints – Yahoo Sports

Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo fumble away a Giant opportunity vs. Saints – Yahoo Sports

October 6, 2025
‘The World Report’ of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – KSL TV 5

Inside The World Report: Exploring the Impact of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

October 6, 2025
Thai Airways Launches New Premium Economy on Flights From Most Visited City in the World – Aviation A2Z

Thai Airways Launches New Premium Economy on Flights From Most Visited City in the World – Aviation A2Z

October 6, 2025
Charlie Hunnam Reflects on Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story – Yahoo

Charlie Hunnam Reveals the Dark Challenges of Playing a Serial Killer in Monster: The Ed Gein Story

October 6, 2025
Pre-rolls, education and industry optimism: Takeaways from Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit 2025 – Cleveland.com

Pre-rolls, Education, and Industry Optimism: Top Insights from the Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit 2025

October 6, 2025
‘Rage’ politics the latest hurdle for GOP to clear; how prior battles made conservatives stronger: Dave Brat – Fox News

How ‘Rage’ Politics Is Transforming the GOP and Fueling Conservative Determination

October 6, 2025
EarthTalk – Why do eco-advocates consider backyard gardens so crucial to conservation? – Kiowa County Press

How Backyard Gardens Are Becoming the Heart of Conservation Efforts

October 5, 2025
Citizen science discovers a rare bird in town | Opinion – Times Record News

Citizen science discovers a rare bird in town | Opinion – Times Record News

October 5, 2025
Millions could be living with hidden smell loss after COVID without knowing – ScienceDaily

Millions Could Be Unknowingly Struggling with Hidden Smell Loss Following COVID

October 5, 2025
How This Influencer Lost 31 Kg By Following These 8 “Weird” Daily Habits – NDTV

How This Influencer Lost 31 Kg By Following These 8 “Weird” Daily Habits – NDTV

October 5, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (853)
  • Economy (874)
  • Entertainment (21,748)
  • General (17,436)
  • Health (9,916)
  • Lifestyle (886)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (875)
  • Politics (885)
  • Science (16,084)
  • Sports (21,375)
  • Technology (15,855)
  • World (857)

Recent News

Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo fumble away a Giant opportunity vs. Saints – Yahoo Sports

Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo fumble away a Giant opportunity vs. Saints – Yahoo Sports

October 6, 2025
‘The World Report’ of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – KSL TV 5

Inside The World Report: Exploring the Impact of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

October 6, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version