The PROBA2 Mission: The First Two Years of Solar Observation

The PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy (PROBA) missions are a series of microsatellites launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) and intended to provide an in-orbit test platform for new technologies. The second satellite in the series, PROBA2, was launched on November 2, 2009. The primary mission goal of PROBA2 is to perform an in-flight demonstration of a series of new spacecraft technologies. The secondary mission goal is the exploitation of the payload of scientific instruments consisting of two Sun-sensing instruments, the Sun Watcher with Active Pixel Sensor and Image Processing, and the Large Yield Radiometer. Both instruments are unique in a technological sense but also provide unique scientific data for the solar physics community. In this volume, a number of papers are collected that give an overview of the mission, the spacecraft, its instrument and its operations. In addition, the scientific outcome of the mission during the first two years is presented in a series of research papers.  This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in solar physics and space science. Previously published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 286, No. 1, 2013.

Dr. David Berghmans is Operational Director a.i. of the research group "Solar Physics and Space Weather" at the Royal Observatory of Belgium.  His research interests cover all aspects of coronal physics and related fields. He is co-author of 47 refereed publications (NASA ADS numbers). Dr. Berghmans is the principal investigator of the SWAP instrument on board PROBA2. Currently, he is leading the PROBA2 science center that coordinates the operations of the SWAP and LYRA space weather instruments on board PROBA2. D. Berghmans is co-PI in the EUI consortium that is preparing for the EUV imagers aboard the Solar Orbiter mission.

Dr. Anik de Groof is an ESA scientist for SWAP and LYRA, at the PROBA2 science center (located at the Royal Observatory of Belgium). She obtained her Ph.D. in Solar Physics in 2002 from the K.U. Leuven, Belgium, studying coronal heating mechanisms and coronal waves both in theory as in observational data, and is co-author of 20 refereed publications (NASA ADS number).  She has been involved in PROBA2 since the pre-flight calibration of the EUV imager SWAP in 2006. Since then, she has actively contributed to the many phases of the mission, from the design and development of the PROBA2 Science Centre and the launch activities, to the daily instrument commanding, data processing and scientific exploitation of the SWAP and LYRA data. Recently, Dr. de Groof moved to the European Space and Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid to design and implement the Scientific Operations Centre for the upcoming Solar Orbiter mission.

Ir. Marie Dominique is a scientist at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Her main scientific interests are the evolution of UV solar irradiance and solar flares.  She joined the LYRA team at an early stage of its conception and took a significant part in the development of the instrument. Since mid-2010, Ir. Dominique has been the principal investigator of LYRA. She is co-author of 11 refereedpublications (NASA ADS numbers).

Dr. Jean-François Hochedez is a solar physicist at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. During the development and the initial observations, Dr. Hochedez was the principal investigator of the LYRA instrument onboard PROBA2. His scientific research addresses all aspects of solar activity and variability by means of novel instrumentation and new schemes for data analysis. He is a co-investigator of instruments on board SOHO, STEREO, PROBA2, and PICARD, of which Dr. Hochedez is currently the mission scientist. He is co-author of 77 refereed publications (NASA ADS numbers).