ESA’s Euclid spacecraft was launched at 17:12 on 1 July. CEST with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The successful launch marks the start of an ambitious mission to uncover the nature of two mysterious components of our universe, dark matter and dark energy, and to help us answer the fundamental question: what is the universe made of?
Following the launch and undocking of the rocket, ESA’s European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed that the New Norcia ground station in Australia was at 17:57. CEST picked up a signal from Euclid.
“The successful launch of Euclid marks the start of a new scientific effort to help us answer one of the most compelling questions of modern science,” said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. “Euclid has been made possible through the leadership of ESA, the efforts and expertise of hundreds of European industrial and scientific institutions and through collaboration with international partners. The search for answers to fundamental questions about our universe is what makes us human. And often it is the driving the advancement of science and the development of powerful, far-reaching new technologies, ESA is committed to extending Europe’s ambitions and successes in space for future generations.”
“The Euclid mission is the result of the passion and expertise of those who contributed to the design and construction of this advanced space telescope, the competence of our flight operations team and the curious spirit of the scientific community,” said Giuseppe Racca, Euclid Project Manager at ESA. “There have been many challenges during the project, but we worked hard and now together with our partners in the Euclid Consortium and NASA we have successfully reached this milestone.”
The Euclid Consortium contributed the two highly advanced scientific instruments – the visible wavelength camera (VIS) and the near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP). NASA provided the detectors for NISP.
Exploration of the dark universe
Euclid will observe billions of galaxies from up to 10 billion light years away to create the largest, most accurate 3D map of the Universe, with the third dimension representing time itself. This detailed map of the shape, position and motion of galaxies will give us insight into how matter is spread over immense distances and how the expansion of the universe has evolved over cosmic history. From this, astronomers can deduce the properties of dark energy and dark matter. This will help theorists better understand the role of gravity and determine the nature of these enigmatic entities.
“Today we celebrate the successful launch of a groundbreaking mission that puts Europe at the forefront of cosmological research,” said Carole Mundell, Director of Science at ESA. “If we want to understand the Universe in which we live, we must uncover the nature of dark matter and dark energy and understand the role they played in the formation of our cosmos. To answer these fundamental questions, Euclid will present the most detailed map of the extra-galactic sky. This immense wealth of data will also enable the scientific community to explore many other aspects of astronomy for years to come.”
To achieve the ambitious scientific goal, Euclid is equipped with a 1.2 m reflecting telescope that feeds the two innovative scientific instruments: VIS, which takes very sharp images of galaxies covering a large part of the sky, and NISP, which analyze infrared light from galaxies by wavelength to accurately determine their distance.
The spacecraft and communications are controlled from ESOC. To handle the massive amounts of data that Euclid will collect, ESA’s Estrack network of deep space antennas has been upgraded. This data will be analyzed by the Euclid Consortium – a group of more than 2000 scientists from more than 300 institutes in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan.
As the mission progresses, Euclid’s wealth of data will be released annually through the Science Archive at ESA’s European Space Center for Astronomy in Spain and will be accessible to the global scientific community.
“This is a great moment for science, which we have long awaited: the launch of Euclid, a mission to unravel the puzzle of dark matter and dark energy,” says René Laureijs, Euclid project scientist at ESA . “The great mystery of the fundamental components of the universe is staring at us and presenting an enormous challenge. Thanks to the advanced telescope and powerful scientific instruments, Euclid is ready to help us unravel this mystery.”
Travel to Lagrange point 2
Over the next four weeks, Euclid will travel to Lagrange point 2 on the Sun-Earth axis, an equilibrium point of the Sun-Earth system located 1.5 million km from Earth (about four times the distance from Earth to Earth). moon) in the opposite direction of the sun. There, Euclid is maneuvered into orbit around this point and the mission controllers begin the activities of verifying all functions of the starship, checking the telescope and finally turning on the science instruments.
Scientists and engineers will then spend two months intensively testing and calibrating Euclid’s scientific instruments and preparing for routine observations. For six years, Euclid will map a third of the sky with unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity.
Over Euclid
Euclid is a European mission developed and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid Consortium is responsible for providing the scientific instruments and scientific data analysis. ESA selected Thales Alenia Space as the main contractor for the construction of the satellite and the associated service module. Airbus Defense and Space was chosen to develop the loading module, including the telescope. NASA provided the detectors of the near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP). Euclid is a mid-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision program.
About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1975. The European Space Agency aims to shape the development of European space capabilities and ensure that investments in space benefit the citizens of Europe and the world.
22 Member States are part of ESA: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania are associate members.
ESA has set up a formal cooperation with four EU Member States. Canada participates in some ESA programs under a cooperation agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA is able to undertake programs and activities far beyond the reach of a single European country. In particular, it cooperates with the EU in the implementation of the Galileo and Copernicus programs and with Eumetsat in the development of meteorological missions.
More information about ESA can be found at www.esa.int
2023-07-01 16:21:38
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