The Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI)

¹ Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA
e-mail: russ.howard@nrl.navy.mil
² Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
³ Space Systems Research Corporation, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
⁴ Silver Engineering, Inc., Melbourne, FL 32904, USA
⁵ SRI International, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
⁶ SGT Technologies, Greenbelt MD 20770, USA
⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91011, USA
⁸ University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
⁹ Predictive Sciences Inc., San Diego, CA 92121, USA
¹⁰ University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany
¹¹ Centre Spatiale de Liege, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
¹² European Space Research and Technology Centre, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹³ Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Guyancourt, France
¹⁴ Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
¹⁵ Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxford, UK
¹⁶ Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, 31028 Toulouse, France
¹⁷ University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
¹⁸ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 22070, USA
¹⁹ ASRC Federal Space and Defense, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA

Received: 4 February 2019
Accepted: 21 May 2019

Abstract

Aims. We present the design and pre-launch performance of the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) which is an instrument prepared for inclusion in the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission, currently scheduled for launch in 2020.

Methods. The goal of this paper is to provide details of the SoloHI instrument concept, design, and pre-flight performance to give the potential user of the data a better understanding of how the observations are collected and the sources that contribute to the signal.

Results. The paper discusses the science objectives, including the SoloHI-specific aspects, before presenting the design concepts, which include the optics, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and ground processing. Finally, a list of planned data products is also presented.

Conclusions. The performance measurements of the various instrument parameters meet or exceed the requirements derived from the mission science objectives. SoloHI is poised to take its place as a vital contributor to the science success of the Solar Orbiter mission.