Scientists are planning something super wild this year — they’re going to create an artificial solar eclipse! Yep, instead of waiting for nature to do it, they’re making their own by using special technology. The idea is to block out the Sun just enough so they can study its outer atmosphere, called the corona. Normally, the corona is way too bright to see clearly, but with this trick, scientists can finally get a better look. It’s a big deal because it could help us understand solar storms and how they mess with things like satellites and power grids. Honestly, it’s like science fiction coming to life! Credit:
2016 Eclipse: Indonesia: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20140303_SDO_m12147_Eclipse_Indonesia
NASA’s SDO Captures Stunning View of April 17 Solar Flare: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20160426_SDO_m12224_SolarFlare
Baseball Hits an Eclipse: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20170921_Eclipse_m12715_Baseball
Mission Control Houston During Artemis I Launch: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/jsc2022m000284-Mission%20Control%20Houston%20During%20Artemis%20I%20Launch
PUNCH Satellites Solar Array Deployment Test at Astrotech: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250122-MH-ANV01-0001-PUNCH_Satellites_Solar_Array_Deployment_Test_VSFB-M11096
NASA’s Polar Ice Experiment Paves Way for Future Moon Missions: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250213-MH-NAS01-0001-CLPS_Jackie_Quinn_Polar_Ice_Experiment_Paves_Way_for_Future_Moon_Missions
IM-2 ISO B-Roll String: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250226-VP-MMS01-0001-IM_2_ISO_B-Roll_String-M11808
PACE-Mission-Build-Timelapse: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/PACE-Mission-Build-Timelapse
ESCAPADE Mission Spacecraft Beauty Passes: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14635/
Mission Animation: Mars Gravity Assist: By NASA, https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/329/mission-animation-mars-gravity-assist/
NSYNC’s Lance Bass Shows How to Safely View an Annular Solar Eclipse / NASA
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
2016 Eclipse: Indonesia: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20140303_SDO_m12147_Eclipse_Indonesia
NASA’s SDO Captures Stunning View of April 17 Solar Flare: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20160426_SDO_m12224_SolarFlare
Baseball Hits an Eclipse: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20170921_Eclipse_m12715_Baseball
Mission Control Houston During Artemis I Launch: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/jsc2022m000284-Mission%20Control%20Houston%20During%20Artemis%20I%20Launch
PUNCH Satellites Solar Array Deployment Test at Astrotech: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250122-MH-ANV01-0001-PUNCH_Satellites_Solar_Array_Deployment_Test_VSFB-M11096
NASA’s Polar Ice Experiment Paves Way for Future Moon Missions: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250213-MH-NAS01-0001-CLPS_Jackie_Quinn_Polar_Ice_Experiment_Paves_Way_for_Future_Moon_Missions
IM-2 ISO B-Roll String: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20250226-VP-MMS01-0001-IM_2_ISO_B-Roll_String-M11808
PACE-Mission-Build-Timelapse: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/PACE-Mission-Build-Timelapse
ESCAPADE Mission Spacecraft Beauty Passes: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14635/
Mission Animation: Mars Gravity Assist: By NASA, https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/329/mission-animation-mars-gravity-assist/
NSYNC’s Lance Bass Shows How to Safely View an Annular Solar Eclipse / NASA
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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Our Social Media:
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Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
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For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00A space mission like this has never been done before.
00:09Nearly 20 years in the making, it's so precise that even a millimeter of error could ruin the whole thing.
00:18Two satellites are floating hundreds of miles above the Earth with one big goal – to create artificial solar eclipses on demand.
00:27This could change how we study the Sun forever.
00:30But pulling it off is insanely difficult.
00:33And let's just say NASA and the ESA are holding their breath.
00:39Proba 3 has successfully launched and already shows promising results.
00:44It's made up of two satellites that will fly in perfect formation.
00:48Their goal is to block out the Sun in space.
00:52Well, why do we need that?
00:53Because solar eclipses are actually very useful for studying the Sun's corona, its glowing outer atmosphere.
01:00The Sun is obviously super bright, so its corona is only clearly visible during rare fleeting moments when the Moon perfectly covers the star during an eclipse.
01:10But what if we could recreate that effect any time?
01:13That's Proba 3's main task.
01:18One satellite acts as an occulter, a giant sun-blocking disk.
01:23It also carries a wide disk about 5 feet wide, which acts like an artificial moon, blocking out the Sun's light.
01:30The other is a coronagraph.
01:32It should capture detailed images of the corona.
01:35There's also a third device that should study space weather and how solar storms affect our planet.
01:41It's insane how perfectly precise they must be for this to work.
01:45They must stay perfectly aligned with their position shifting by no more than a single millimeter, about the thickness of a fingernail.
01:52All while they're floating high away from Earth in space with no strings attached.
01:59This project was a team effort and a pretty big historical moment.
02:04This is the first time that an ESA mission is launched from India since 2001.
02:09Proba 3 was built with contributions from 13 European countries, along with Canada.
02:15There was a small hiccup before departure, though.
02:17The Air Freight Company refused to accept the satellites because their batteries were still inside.
02:23The engineers had to remove the batteries and ship them separately.
02:27Not ideal, but a small price to pay for getting the mission to the launch pad.
02:32The idea first came to mind in 2005 to ESA scientists.
02:36And after years of planning, designing, and testing, the mission finally lifted off on December 5, 2024.
02:43For the first few weeks after launch, the two satellites stayed connected.
02:51Scientists run tests to ensure they were functioning properly.
02:54During this time, the coronagraph took its first-ever space image.
02:58It captured a beautiful star field in the Ophiuchus constellation.
03:02Then, on January 14, 2025, the real mission began.
03:07The two spacecraft successfully separated from each other.
03:10Over the following weeks, ESA's engineers carefully brought them back together to keep control distance.
03:17Now that they're in orbit, Proba 3's satellites work in a highly elliptical orbit,
03:21swinging between 372 and about 37,000 miles from Earth.
03:27This should help ease the Earth's gravitation,
03:29meaning the satellites won't need to burn as much fuel to stay perfectly aligned.
03:33The spacecraft also communicate with each other using lasers, adjusting their distances in real time.
03:40This level of control has never been attempted on this scale before.
03:44But the Proba 3 mission isn't only about looking at the Sun.
03:48The second satellite, the Occulter, has its own mission.
03:52It carries DARA, an instrument that will measure the Sun's total energy output.
03:57This is incredibly important for climate studies.
04:00Scientists need to know how much solar energy reaches Earth.
04:04If Proba 3 succeeds, it'll prove that satellites can fly in space autonomously while staying super precise.
04:11This could open the door to entirely new types of space missions.
04:15For example, giant telescopes in space, where separate satellites act as one enormous lens.
04:21Or more advanced climate monitoring, with precision instruments orbiting Earth together.
04:27Finally, deep space exploration.
04:30Spacecraft could team up to explore planets and moons in ways never seen before.
04:362025 is going to be full of insane space missions.
04:40It's packed with lunar landings, asteroid visits, and planetary flybys.
04:45But space is never easy.
04:47Missions get delayed, some never launch, and others surprise us.
04:52First, IMAP – Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe.
04:56This one will launch in September, and it should help us unlock the secrets of interstellar space.
05:02It will travel super far away to study the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space.
05:09This mission will help us learn more about cosmic rays, solar winds,
05:12and what happens when the Sun's influence stops and the actual terrifying space begins.
05:18Next, PUNCH and SPHER-X.
05:22These two were already launched on March 11, 2025.
05:26PUNCH will help predict solar storms before they hit Earth.
05:29It will track solar winds from the Sun to Earth and help us understand space weather better.
05:35Space weather is important because it can damage satellites and power grids.
05:38And SPHER-X will map the entire sky in infrared light, capturing the spectra of millions of galaxies.
05:46It could reveal the secrets of how galaxies formed after the Big Bang.
05:51Next, we've got TUN-2, which should launch sometime in May.
05:55It will visit the legendary asteroid Kama'o-Aliwa.
05:59Many years ago, this asteroid might have been a chunk of the Moon, and now it orbits the Sun.
06:04The next one is ESCAPADE.
06:07Once again, two spacecraft, one Mars mission.
06:10ESCAPADE should be launched somewhere during 2025.
06:14It will send two small spacecraft to Mars to study how the solar winds influence our red buddy.
06:22Many years ago, Mars used to be like early Earth.
06:25It had a thick atmosphere and liquid water.
06:28But it's now a dry, cold desert.
06:31ESCAPADE will help us understand what exactly happened.
06:34How and why did Mars lose its atmosphere?
06:382025 will also be packed with lunar missions.
06:41Unfortunately, not all missions are going to be successful.
06:44For example, the IM-2 lunar lander reached the Moon's surface on March 6.
06:49It was supposed to land near the Moon's south pole to search for water ice.
06:54Finding water on the Moon would be incredibly important for our future human missions.
06:58If we find a method to turn this water ice into normal water, we'll be able to build entire settlements there.
07:05Well, IM-2 was marched on February 27th.
07:09It traveled to the Moon successfully and prepared for landing.
07:12It made it to the surface, but something went wrong.
07:16Communication was lost temporarily, and no one really knew why.
07:19When NASA re-established contact, they saw that the lander wasn't in the correct position.
07:26One of its two radio antennas wasn't working.
07:28Turns out, it landed sideways.
07:31And now solar panels can't generate enough power.
07:33And without power, the lander couldn't keep working.
07:36By March 7th, the battery was completely drained, and the mission was over.
07:41But there are more plans.
07:43In late 2025, they should launch the Griffin lunar lander.
07:47The rover it will bring should explore the Nobile Crater, a key target for future Moon bases.
07:54In somewhere between 2025 and 2026, they want to try the IM-3 lunar mission.
08:00It's going to be a third lander with multiple science experiments.
08:04Now, what about the planets?
08:06NASA's Europa Clipper is currently headed to Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
08:11Scientists have suspicions that this place could have water.
08:15It might even become a place for future human missions.
08:18On March 1st, Europa Clipper flew by Mars and used its gravity to speed up.
08:23On August 31st, ESA's JUICE spacecraft, another one that aims at Jupiter's icy moons, will fly by Venus.
08:31They might even snap some pretty pictures along the way.
08:35Finally, Juno's mission nears its end.
08:37Since 2016, NASA's Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter.
08:42It gave us breathtaking images and crucial data.
08:45Now, it's running out of time.
08:47If all goes as planned, Juno will continue until September before being deliberately crashed into Jupiter to avoid contaminating its moons.
08:56All these missions are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, and we're just getting started.
09:01That's it for today.
09:06So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:11Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.