China has taken another important step in space exploration and launched a satellite that will closely monitor the sun. The Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), nicknamed Kuafu-1 in Chinese, successfully entered the planned orbit of the Long March-2D rocket. Named after Kuafu, the giant in Chinese mythology who tirelessly chases the sun, the solar observatory will increase its operating hours over 96 percent of the year.
After four to six months of testing, the 859kg satellite will begin operating 720 kilometers from Earth to study the causality between the solar magnetic field and solar flares and coronal mass eruptions, collecting data.
Gan Weiqun, the satellite's chief scientist at the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said ASO-S is capable of surveying the Sun 24 hours a day for most of the year. With a projected lifespan of not less than four years, the solar probe is designed to collect and transmit back about 500 gigabytes of data in one day, the equivalent of tens of thousands of high-quality images.
"The built-in detectors take a picture every few seconds, and during solar flares, they can increase their shutter speed to one second to capture solar activity in greater detail," said Huang Yu, ASO-S's deputy chief designer.
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