Herschel and Planck Launch Delayed

By Nancy Atkinson - March 13, 2009 at 9:34 AM UTC | Missions
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[/caption] The launch of the Herschel and Planck spacecraft has been delayed from the original launch date of April 16. Right now, officials from the European Space Agency and Arianspace say the liftoff date will be delayed by a few weeks in order to carry out additional checks on the ground segment of the Herschel and Planck programs. Recent software updates for spacecraft operation procedures need to be validated. A new launch date will be announced at the end of March, but officials are hoping for time frame around April 29.

[caption id="attachment_27044" align="aligncenter" width="219" caption="Launch configuration for the Herschel and Planck spacecraft. Credit: ESA"]

[/caption]Planck, ESA's microwave observatory that will study the relic radiation of the Big Bang, while the Herschel missions will study the formation of stars and galaxies. The two will be launched together on an Arian 5 rocket.

Planck is designed to image the anisotropies of the Cosmic Background Radiation Field over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. It will provide a major source of information relevant to several cosmological and astrophysical issues, such as testing theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure.

The Herschel Space Observatory (formerly called Far Infrared and Sub-millimetre Telescope or FIRST) has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope. At 3.5-meters in diameter the mirror will collect long-wavelength radiation from some of the coldest and most distant objects in the Universe. In addition, Herschel will be the only space observatory to cover a spectral range from the far infrared to sub-millimeter. During the delay, preparation of the two spacecraft for launch continues as planned at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Source:

ESA

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com