Preparations for Thermal Balance Testing of Planck FM#1
8 March 2006
The final preparations of the Planck satellite and the cryogenic test chamber are being made at Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL), Belgium. |
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Planck Flight Model #1 in the FOCAL-5 test chamber at CSL | |
The flight model of Planck will be closed inside the vacuum chamber as of Friday 10 March for a 17 days thermal test campaign. The primary objectives of the test are to verify the thermal design of the service module, a so-called thermal balance test, and the acceptance test of one of the two cryogenic sorption coolers. For the latter test, temperatures as low as -251 °C (18 Kelvin) will be achieved by the cooler.
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Installation of the thermal tent in the FOCAL-5 test chamber | |
As of 14:00 today the spacecraft was powered off and tent installation started. All went nominal; thermal strap was installed correctly; sensors checked OK and the thermal tent cover was also installed. Connecting cooling lines and sniff check is in progress to make sure there is no leak.
