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Assembly of Solar Array and Sun Shade

Assembly of Solar Array and Sun Shade

17 August 2007

The Flight Models of Herschel's solar array panels and Sun shade are being assembled at ESTEC by Dutch Space engineers. Following environmental testing they will be fitted to the Herschel spacecraft when it arrives at ESTEC later this year.

Flight Models of the solar array and Sun shade in ESTEC cleanroom

Once in space the solar array will provide the spacecraft with 1900 Watts of electrical power. In addition, the combined solar array and Sun shade will shield the scientific payload from direct Sun radiation, which is necessary to allow the payload to be operated at temperatures close to absolute zero (-273.15 °C).

Last Update: 1 September 2019
10-Oct-2024 08:00 UT

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