Payload
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Schematic figure of one of the cameras of the PLATO spacecraft. Credit: PLATO Mission Consortium |
The key scientific requirement to detect and characterise a large number of terrestrial planets around bright stars determined the design of PLATO's payload module. The module provides a wide field-of-view (FoV) to maximise the number of the sparsely distributed bright stars in the sky with one pointing, and allows the satellite to cover a large part of the sky. In addition, it provides the required photometric accuracy to detect Earth-sized planets and a high photometric dynamic range, allowing astronomers to observe bright stars (mV < 11) as well as fainter stars down to V-magnitude of 16. This performance is achieved by a multi-telescope instrument concept, which is novel for a space telescope.
The payload consists of 24 'normal' cameras with CCD-based focal planes, operating in white light. They will be read out with a cadence of 25 s and will monitor stars with mV > 8. Two additional 'fast' cameras with high read-out cadence (2.5 s) will be used for stars with mV ~4–8. The 'normal' cameras are arranged in four groups of six. Each group has the same field-of-view but is offset by a 9.2° angle from the payload module +Z axis, allowing astronomers to survey a total field of about 2250 deg² per pointing, but with different sensitivities over the field.
The ensemble of instruments is mounted on an optical bench. The cameras are based on a fully dioptric design with 6 lenses. Each camera has an 1100 deg² field-of-view and a pupil diameter of 120 mm and is equipped with a focal plane array of 4 CCDs each with 4510×4510 pixels of 18 μm size, working in full frame mode for the 'normal' camera and in frame transfer mode for the 'fast' cameras.
Contributions to the Payload
Principal Investigator | DLR, Germany |
PMC management System engineering Performance monitoring & assessment Data Processing System Fast Electronics Unit including Fine Guidance System Telescope Optical Units thermal hardware Front-end Electronics of the fast telescopes |
DLR, Germany |
Telescope Optical Units Instrument Control Unit |
ASI, Italy |
Focal Plane Assemblies Main Electronic Unit Contribution to camera integration, testing and calibration |
MINECO, Spain |
Software data processing for the normal telescopes Contribution to Fast Front-End Electronics Contribution to camera integration, testing and calibration |
CNES, France |
Optical Ground Support Equipment Multilayer Insulation |
FCT, Portugal |
Front-End Electronics of the normal telescopes | UK Space Agency |
Contribution to camera integration, testing and calibration | SRON, The Netherlands |
Contribution to the Broadband Filtering Coating of the fast telescopes | SNSB, Sweden |
Router and Data Compression Unit in the Instrument Control Unit On-board data compression algorithms |
AASA/FFG, Austria |
Camera integration, testing and calibration | Belgian Federal Science Policy Office |
Telescope Optical Units mechanical structure | Swiss Space Office |
CCDs Ancillary Electronic Units Central Part Procurement Agency (CPPA) |
ESA |