| Final view of Herschel at Kourou |
| On Sunday 10 May the Ariane 5 ECA fairing was lowered over the Herschel spacecraft and the SYLDA, under which the Planck spacecraft sits, to be integrated finally with the launcher. Both spacecraft are now ready for the launch scheduled for 14 May at 13:12 UTC. |
| Date: 12 May 2009 |
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| Herschel mated with Ariane 5 ECA Launcher |
| The Herschel spacecraft has been mated with the Ariane 5 ECA launcher on 30 April 2009. Inside the launcher final assembly building Herschel was installed on the SYLDA 5 support structure, which encapsulates the Planck spacecraft at the top of the launcher. Planck was mated with the launcher rocket just a week earlier on 23 April. The two spacecraft are now in the final stages of preparations for their joint launch at the European spaceport in Kourou. |
| Date: 11 May 2009 |
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| Helium for the Herschel cryostat |
| One of the last activities to take place in S5B is the filling of the Herschel cryostat with liquid helium and its conversion into superfluid helium-II. The primary objective of achieving a full cryostat, above 95%, with a helium temperature below 1.7 Kelvin was reached on Friday 25 April and the activities now focus on maintaining the good helium conditions until the spacecraft can be moved to the Final Assembly Building (BAF) for integration with the launcher. |
| Date: 28 Apr 2009 |
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| Herschel spacecraft is fully fuelled |
| The Herschel fuelling procedure has been successfully completed - the reaction control system tanks are now fully loaded with 256 kg of hydrazine liquid. |
| Date: 15 Apr 2009 |
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| Herschel spacecraft ready for fuelling |
| Having completed all functional tests the Herschel spacecraft has been moved from the S1B building to the S5B building where the hydrazine fuelling activities will be performed. Everything is in place for fuelling to be completed this week. |
| Date: 09 Apr 2009 |
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| Steady progress towards launch - all Herschel instruments are 'good to go' |
| The three scientific instruments on the Herschel payload have passed their functional tests and have been declared 'good to go'. This marks another milestone in the steady progress being made in preparing the spacecraft for launch. |
| Date: 12 Mar 2009 |
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| Herschel spacecraft inspection and final mirror cleaning |
| In the first few days following its arrival at CSG the Herschel spacecraft was unpacked and inspected. The first of a series of final preparations to ready the spacecraft for launch - the final cleaning of the primary and secondary mirror - was completed. |
| Date: 27 Feb 2009 |
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| Herschel arrives in French Guiana |
| The Herschel spacecraft arrived at Rochambeau airport, French Guiana, in the early hours of the morning of 12 February. The spacecraft and containers carrying support equipment were unloaded and subsequently transported to the launch site at Kourou by road. |
| Date: 14 Feb 2009 |
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| Herschel departs Europe - launch campaign underway |
| On the evening of 11 February 2009 the Herschel space observatory left Europe, departing from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol onboard an Antonov cargo airplane with destination Rochambeau airport in French Guiana. |
| Date: 13 Feb 2009 |
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| Herschel test campaign concludes - spacecraft ready for transport to Kourou |
| Following the completion of the environmental test campaign at the end of 2008 the Herschel spacecraft has undergone a number of routine functional tests. These were completed last week and the spacecraft is now being prepared for transport to the launch site at Kourou. |
| Date: 03 Feb 2009 |
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| Herschel leaves the Large Space Simulator |
| On Thursday, 8 January 2009, the Herschel flight model spacecraft was lifted out of the Large Space Simulator (LSS) at ESTEC, where it has successfully completed the last series of environmental tests. |
| Date: 21 Jan 2009 |
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| Herschel moves to the Large Space Simulator |
| The Herschel spacecraft is now installed in the Large Space Simulator (LSS) at ESTEC ready for thermal balance and thermal vacuum tests. This is the final system test in the environmental test campaign series. |
| Date: 10 Nov 2008 |
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| Herschel Mechanical Tests Completed |
| Mechanical tests on the Herschel flight model spacecraft were successfully completed on 3 July 2008. On that day, the last vibration test was performed on the multi-axis hydraulic shaker at ESTEC. The spacecraft is currently undergoing electrical tests and will later be prepared for the forthcoming environmental tests scheduled for September. |
| Date: 04 Aug 2008 |
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| Herschel Acoustic and Vibration Tests |
| The Herschel spacecraft is currently undergoing a series of mechanical tests at the ESTEC test facilities. These will verify the Herschel spacecraft compliance with specification requirements, ensuring that the flight model is ready for launch. The system level tests are being continued by the vibration tests, performed at the end of last week and the full length of this week. |
| Date: 25 Jun 2008 |
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| Herschel M1/M2 Distance Measurements |
| On Friday, 16 May, M1/M2 distance measurements of the Herschel telescope were performed. These measurements are carried out in order to verify the optomechanical stability of the telescope. They are performed before and after significant testing (mechanical and environmental), transport and handling activities of the telescope. |
| Date: 27 May 2008 |
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| Herschel Telescope Integration |
| The large 3.5-metre diameter Herschel telescope has been mechanically integrated onto the interface structure on the cryostat. The successful integration of the telescope on Wednesday, 16 April 2008, comes just under a week after the integration of Herschel's solar array and sunshade on 11 April. |
| Date: 18 Apr 2008 |
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| Herschel telescope ready for integration |
| The Herschel telescope is now ready for integration onto the spacecraft! |
| Date: 08 Apr 2008 |
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| Herschel Cryostat Cooldown |
| The Herschel spacecraft is set up in the ESTEC cleanroom where it is going through a cooldown, with the main helium tank in the cryostat vacuum vessel (CVV) slowly being filled with liquid helium. The setup for this carefully monitored process was started end January with a smooth cooldown of the helium tank to a temperature of about 4 K and complete filling with more than 2000 litres of liquid helium. |
| Date: 20 Mar 2008 |
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| Herschel Telescope Testing |
| The last two weeks have seen several testing activities around the Herschel telescope flight model in the cleanroom facilities at ESTEC. On 4 and 5 February the M1/M2 distance measurements of the telescope was performed. These M1/M2 measurements are to verify the optomechanical stability of the telescope under ambient conditions before launch. They are performed before and after significant mechanical and environmental testing, transport and handling activities of the telescope. |
| Date: 18 Feb 2008 |
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| Herschel Telescope Flight Model at ESTEC |
| The Herschel telescope's primary mirror is the largest mirror ever built for space. It is made out of 12 silicon carbide (SiC) petals brazed together and coated with a thin aluminium reflective layer. The SiC provides a rigid but lightweight structure with the telescope mass totalling at about 320 kg. |
| Date: 01 Feb 2008 |
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