The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to explore the sun more closely. To this end, it is sending the Solar Orbiter space probe, which is equipped with ten instruments. Scientists hope that the multi-year mission will provide new insights into solar winds and the complex dynamics responsible for solar flares. Solar Orbiter will fly closer to the sun than its nearest planet Mercury - to around 45 million kilometers. It will be over 500 °C hot on the side facing the sun. A heat shield protects the valuable instruments on board and only allows a view of the sun during measurements.

This also applies to the X-ray telescope (STIX), which is intended to examine solar flares more closely and may make it possible to predict large flares. It was developed at the School of Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) in collaboration with several Swiss industrial partners such as Almatech. Drives from Maxon are also used in the X-ray telescope. Two specially modified DC motors with diameters of 13 mm move an aluminum damping net, which is pushed in front of the 30 STIX detectors as required. The microdrives are placed in parallel and can be operated together or individually, ensuring smooth operation over the entire planned mission of five years. The design is based on micromotors that will soon be used in ESA's ExoMars rover. Low weight, energy efficiency and vibration resistance played a particularly important role in the selection of the drives.

After the planned launch at the beginning of February, Solar Orbiter will be on its way for almost two years before it can start taking measurements. The mission is scheduled to end in 2025.

From the sun to Mars

While Solar Orbiter is about to be launched, preparations are underway for the next two major Mars projects, which are due to start in summer 2020: NASA's Mars2020 rover and ESA's ExoMars rover. Both missions are intended to provide new knowledge about the Red Planet and, for example, answer the question of whether life once existed there. Mars2020 is also equipped with a small helicopter, which should prove that flights on Mars are possible despite the very thin atmosphere.

Maxon drives fulfill mission-critical tasks in both projects: For example, for the wheel drives, handling the soil samples or controlling the Mars helicopter.