CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA and the European Space Agency are preparing to launch a spacecraft to study the sun.
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is set for launch Sunday night at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Data from the orbiter will help scientists in forecasting space weather that impacts Earth.
Scientists plan to use the spacecraft to snap the first pictures of the sun's north and south poles and study the sun's outer atmosphere and solar wind.
The Solar Orbiter has 10 state-of-the-art instruments from NASA and ESA which will provide scientists with data for real-life applications.
It will complement the work being done by the Parker Solar Probe, launched by NASA in 2018.
The two-hour window for Sunday’s launch opens at 11:03 p.m.
🚨 Launch Update 🚨
— NASA (@NASA) January 31, 2020
The launch of #SolarOrbiter, our collaborative mission with @ESA to explore the Sun’s poles, is now targeted for Sunday, Feb. 9 due to a delay in transporting the spacecraft to the pad and weather conditions. Learn more from @NASASun: https://t.co/BX8Nvx6kN6 pic.twitter.com/jfAXmc3U3K
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