Launching Into Orbit





SOHO was launched at 08:08 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on 2nd December 1995 from Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral,Florida, USA.

What other famous missions have launched from the Kennedy Space Center?




SOHO doesn't orbit the Earth, like most telecommunications satellites (what are telecommunications? can you think of any examples where you might be using a satellite?).


It doesn't orbit the Sun or the moon either! So where about does it orbit?





It orbits a point in space called the `Lagrange L1' point between the Sun and the Earth (do you know who Lagrange was?). This is a very special point in space as it is where all the forces, gravitational (from the Sun, pulling in one direction, and the Earth, pulling in the opposite direction, and everything else in the universe!) and rotational, exactly balance.

Orbit of SOHO

The 'Lagrange L1' point is where the X, Y and Z axes meet in the picture above.



Here is how SOHO may have looked on its way to the `Lagrange L1' point.


Now what?

Once SOHO reached the `Lagrange L1' point, it had to get into orbit around it. It done this using its onboard thrusters using fuel that is carries with it. Other power onboard SOHO is provided by its solar panels. Now the science could begin.



SOHO's onboard fuel and solar panels were vital components in SOHO's rescue two and a half years later!