Tuesday 18 June 2013

Herschel farewelled with shot into solar orbit



On Monday at 12:25 GMT, the European Space Agency (ESA) executed final shutdown on the Herschel space telescope after shooting it into solar orbit. This shutdown marks the end of Herschel’s successful four-year mission of deep space observation, which was terminatedwhen it ran out of liquid helium in April. Without liquid helium to cool its super-sensitive infrared instrument, Herschel was unable to continue its mission, but it was otherwise fully functional, so ESA took the opportunity to use the probe to carry out technical tests that couldn't be done earlier. .. Continue Reading Herschel farewelled with shot into solar orbit

Section: Space

Tags: ESA, Space telescope, Spacecraft

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