One craft will block the view of the sun from the other to deepen understanding of solar disruptions on terrestrial technology

European scientists are preparing to launch a space mission that has been designed to create total eclipses of the sun on demand.

The robot spacecraft Proba-3 will be launched by the European Space Agency (Esa) in a few weeks in a mission which will involve flying a pair of satellites in close formation round the Earth. They will be linked by lasers and light sensors, with one probe blocking the view of the sun as seen from the other craft. The effect will be to create solar eclipses that will last for several hours.