Planck (spacecraft)
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| Planck (spacecraft) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Planck |
| Mission type | Cosmic microwave background astronomy |
| Operator | European Space Agency |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-026B |
| SATCAT | 34938 |
| Website | sci.esa.int/planck |
| Mission duration | Planned: 15 months, Final: 4 years, 5 months, 8 days |
| Spacecraft bus | PROBA |
| Manufacturer | Thales Alenia Space |
| Launch mass | 1,950 kg (4,300 lb) |
| Power | 1,420 watts |
| Launch date | 14 May 2009, 13:12:02 UTC |
| Launch rocket | Ariane 5 ECA |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre ELA-3 |
| Disposal type | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated | 23 October 2013 |
| Orbit reference | Sun–Earth L2 point |
| Orbit regime | Lissajous orbit |
| Orbit semimajor | 1,500,000 km (930,000 mi) |
| Apsis | helion |
| Instruments | High Frequency Instrument (HFI), Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) |
Planck (spacecraft) was a space observatory operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) from 2009 to 2013. Its primary mission was to observe the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) across the entire sky with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. Named in honor of the German physicist Max Planck, the mission built upon the legacy of previous satellites like COBE and WMAP, providing the most detailed all-sky map of the early universe. The spacecraft's data has been fundamental to modern physical cosmology, refining measurements of the universe's composition, age, and evolution.
Overview
The Planck mission was a cornerstone project of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000 scientific programme, designed as a third-generation CMB explorer. It was part of a coordinated effort alongside the Herschel Space Observatory, with both spacecraft launched together on a single Ariane 5 rocket. Operating at the second Lagrange point (L2) of the Sun–Earth system, Planck surveyed the sky in nine frequency bands, from 30 to 857 GHz, to separate the pristine CMB signal from foreground emission from our Milky Way and other extragalactic sources. The mission represented a major international collaboration involving scientific institutes across Europe, the United States, and Canada.
Development and launch
Development of the Planck satellite was led by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, with the spacecraft bus based on the versatile PROBA platform. The mission faced significant technical challenges, particularly in the design and cooling of its ultrasensitive instruments to operate just fractions of a degree above absolute zero. Following extensive testing at facilities like ESTEC, Planck was shipped to the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. On 14 May 2009, it was successfully launched from ELA-3 at Kourou aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, sharing the ride with the Herschel Space Observatory. After a journey of several weeks, it entered a Lissajous orbit around the Sun–Earth L2 point.
Mission and scientific objectives
Planck's overarching scientific goal was to test theories of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure by measuring the CMB with extreme precision. Key objectives included determining the fundamental cosmological parameters of the Lambda-CDM model with an accuracy of better than 1%, detecting or constraining the imprint of primordial gravitational waves from cosmic inflation, and studying the secondary anisotropies caused by the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect. The mission also aimed to create a rich catalogue of galaxy clusters and map the polarized emission from interstellar dust within the Milky Way.
Instruments and technology
The observatory carried two primary instruments: the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and the High Frequency Instrument (HFI). The LFI, provided by a consortium led by Italy's Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, used high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) radiometers to cover three bands between 30 and 70 GHz. The HFI, led by France's Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, used an array of 52 bolometric detectors cooled to 0.1 Kelvin by a sophisticated dilution refrigerator and helium-3/helium-4 sorption coolers to observe in six bands between 100 and 857 GHz. A large Gregorian telescope with a 1.5-meter primary mirror focused radiation onto these instruments, all protected by a series of V-groove radiators for passive cooling.
Key findings and legacy
Planck's data led to the publication of the most precise all-sky CMB maps in 2013 and 2018, which have become the standard reference in cosmology. The mission refined the age of the universe to 13.787 billion years and precisely measured its composition as 4.9% ordinary matter, 26.6% dark matter, and 68.5% dark energy. It found strong support for the cosmic inflation model, though it did not confirm early reports of primordial B-mode polarization. Planck also produced unparalleled maps of the galactic magnetic field and catalogued thousands of galaxy clusters via the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect. Its legacy datasets continue to fuel research in astrophysics and particle physics.
Mission timeline and conclusion
The spacecraft began its routine science operations in August 2009, completing its first all-sky survey by June 2010. It operated far beyond its planned 15-month lifetime, conducting a total of five full-sky surveys. The mission ended when the helium-3 needed to cool the HFI was exhausted in January 2012, though the LFI continued observations until October 2013. On 23 October 2013, following commands from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Planck was deactivated and placed into a permanent parking orbit around the Sun. Its final data release in 2018 marked the completion of one of the most successful scientific missions in the history of space exploration.
Category:Spacecraft launched in 2009 Category:European Space Agency satellites Category:Cosmic microwave background experiments