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Planck cruising to L2
Science & Exploration

Planck cruising to L2

13/05/2009 1275 views 1 likes 221285 ID
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Herschel and Planck will be launched together on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellites
will be placed inside the fairing of the launcher; Planck at the bottom, Herschel on top. They will separate shortly after launch
and proceed independently to different orbits around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, or L2. The boosters
of the Ariane 5 will burn for slightly less than 2.5 minutes and its main and upper stage engines for about 25 minutes to set
Herschel and then Planck on the path to L2.

On reaching L2, Planck will be injected into a Lissajous orbit (a kind of orbit that winds around a torus without closing onto
itself) using the onboard thrusters.

  • ESA – D. Ducros
  • Space Science
  • Planck
  • Astronomy techniques
Herschel and Planck cruise to L2
Science & Exploration

Herschel and Planck cruise to L2

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Planck cruises to L2
Science & Exploration

Planck cruises to L2

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Planck's cruise to L2
Science & Exploration

Planck's cruise to L2

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Planck separates from upper stage
Science & Exploration

Planck separates from upper stage

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Herschel and Planck launch configuration
Science & Exploration

Herschel and Planck launch configuration

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