Mon, Dec 12, 2011
European Probe's Sun Shield Deployed For The First Time
ESA's Gaia star-mapper has passed a critical test ahead of its
launch in 2013: the spacecraft's sunshield has been deployed for
the first time. Gaia's sunshield is an essential component of the
mission. It keeps Gaia in shadow, maintaining the scientific
instruments at a constant temperature of around -110 degrees
centigrade.
ESA Photo
The sunshield is about 10 m across, which is too large for the
launch vehicle fairing, so it has been built with a dozen folding
panels that will be deployed after launch. Since the sunshield is
designed for the weightlessness of space, it cannot support its own
weight on Earth. So, during this test at Astrium in Toulouse,
France, support cables and counterweights simulated weightless
conditions and provided a realistic trial.
During its expected lifetime of five years, Gaia will take a
census of a billion stars - roughly 1% of all of the stars in our
Galaxy. It will observe each star about 70 times, each time
recording its brightness, colour and, most importantly, its
position. By comparing Gaia's series of exquisite observations,
astronomers will precisely measure the apparent movement of each
star across the heavens, enabling them to determine its distance
and true motion through space. The unprecedented results will allow
astronomers to trace the history of the Milky Way.
Before the 2013 launch, some of the solar array panels needed to
generate power will be fixed to the sunshield. The rest will be
placed on the bottom of the spacecraft.
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