Herschel and Planck Meet for the First Time
1 September 2006
The primary reflector for the Planck spacecraft flight model (FM), on its way back to Cannes after a test campaign in the ESTEC LSS test facility, meets for the first time the cryostat belonging to the Herschel spacecraft. The Herschel cryostat has just arrived at ESTEC for a test campaign that will also be performed in the LSS and will run over the next months.
![]() |
Herschel cryostat and Planck telescope meet at ESTEC |
The two elements will only meet again when both the Herschel FM and Planck FM spacecrafts will be in the ESTEC test facilities for a period of a few months, to undergo final checks and preparations, after which they will be shipped to French Guiana for a combined launch on an Ariane 5 launcher.
Last Update: 1 September 2019