Capturing the invisible collision between our planet and the sun's solar wind

The Smile mission is an upcoming space project designed to observe how solar wind interacts with the magnetic shield surrounding Earth. This video introduces the mission's goals, featuring insights from project leaders and a look at the spacecraft's construction.

Smile, which stands for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, aims to produce the first X-ray imagery of solar wind impacting Earth's magnetic bubble. By pairing these X-rays with ultraviolet observations, the mission will capture the most extensive continuous footage of the northern lights to date.

The project is a joint venture between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The European team is responsible for the payload module, three of the four scientific instruments, and the Vega-C launch vehicle. The Chinese team manages the platform module, the final instrument, and the propulsion systems. The video highlights the assembly and testing process, including the integration of the Soft X-ray Imager developed at the University of Leicester.

Source: Introducing the Smile mission | Let's Smile (episode 1)