China will launch, in October, its first solar probe, which aims to study the relationships between the solar magnetic field, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the media reported.
Solar flares are intense light bursts, while coronal mass ejections involve the release of huge clouds of charged particles called plasma. Both are believed to be caused by the sun’s turbulent magnetic field.
The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) is a 888-kilogram satellite that will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 km, the CGTN reported.
The four-year project will embark from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert.
