In the early hours this morning, Solar Orbiter got its first software update.

At a distance of 264 million km, 1.7 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, Solar Orbiter is almost the furthest away it will get during its entire mission

At 02:46 CEST at #MissionControl, Germany, the command was executed on #SolarOrbiter to trigger an on-board computer reset, leading to the spacecraft entering a planned and tested "safe mode"

The update loaded new central software containing various fixes and improvements identified since the launch in February. After a few hours wait, the spacecraft's signal was re-acquired and spacecraft recovery activities began.

Science operations will resume next week!

Because of its distance, it currently takes light – and therefore signals from mission control – 883 seconds to reach the spacecraft. This is called the “One Way Light Time”. This means the control team have a roughly half hour delay between sending a command and hearing back

Such delays are routine in mission operations, where teams are accustomed to controlling and looking after missions they cannot directly or immediately interact with.

Find out more about how the speed of light affects mission operations: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Adventures_in_time_and_space

Keep up-to-date with all the latest from Solar Orbiter by following @ESASolarOrbiter and @esascience

Find out where Solar Orbiter is at any moment at https://solarorbiter.esac.esa.int/where/ 

#WeAreAllSolarOrbiters