Herschel Cryostat
Date: 19 September 2007
Satellite: Herschel
Depicts: Cryostat vacuum vessel
Copyright: ESA/AOES Medialab
The cryostat vacuum vessel containing the superfluid helium tank and the three focal plane units (FPUs) of the three instruments, HIFI, SPIRE and PACS. Having passed through a system of pipes within the cryostat vacuum vessel to cool down the FPUs, the helium gas (highlighted in blue) vents into space. The cryostat vacuum vessel's outer shell faces cold space and radiatively cools to about 70 K.
Two illustrations showing the different components within the cryostat vacuum vessel are linked under the "related images".
Last Update: 1 September 2019
