ESA - GOCE - Entry 24: Going home

GOCE at a glance

The first of a series Looking into the forces that shape our planet A technological achievement An intimate portrait of Earth Facts and figures

About the spacecraft

Satellite Payload

About the launch

Launch overview Launcher After launch GOCE data

Meet the team

Danilo Muzi, Project Manager Rune Floberghagen, Mission Manager Reiner Rummel, Chairman Mission Advisory Group Mark Drinkwater, Mission Scientist Roger Haagmans, Mission Scientist Andrea Allasio, Thales Alenia Space Project Manager Michael Fehringer, System Manager Paolo Laberinti, Head of Verification and Testing Miguel Aguirre, Technical Officer for Definition Phase Daniel Lamarre, Gradiometer Engineer Juan Piñeiro, Spacecraft Operations Manager Stefano Capitanio, Launch Campaign Manager Pascal Gilles, Head of Earth Explorer Payload Data Ground Segment

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Cleanroom used for storage

Entry 24: Going home

19 March 2009 – Yesterday, members of the management team and VIPs left the launch site to return home with some members of the launch campaign team following on this afternoon. The first part of the journey entails taking an 18-hour train journey overnight from Plesetsk to Moscow and then finally a flight home.

The remainder of the team will stay on at the launch site to pack up the thousands of items that make up the ground support equipment. Some team members will leave early next week and the others a few days later. The last to depart - including Launch Campaign Manager Stefano Capitanio - will follow the shipment of containers home via Arkhangelsk (Archangel), back-tracking on the route taken in July last year. The cargo will then be split into two; the most valuable items will be transported by air and the rest by ship.

By the end of next week the cargo travelling by air will arrive at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands – signifying the end of the launch campaign for GOCE. The mission operations team in ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany is now in control of GOCE as it orbits the Earth.

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Diary in pictures

GOCE launch diary

Entry 1: GOCE prepares for shipment to Russia Entry 2: GOCE begins its journey to launch site Entry 3: GOCE arrives safely at launch site in Russia Entry 4: GOCE unpacked and alignment check complete Entry 5: GOCE checked for gas leaks Entry 6: Launch team reaches full strength Entry 7: Gradiometer checked and launcher rolled out for testing Entry 8: GOCE satellite joins Breeze Entry 9: Last-ever look at GOCE Entry 10: GOCE on the launch pad Entry 11: Launch of GOCE delayed Entry 12: Satellite activities resume 24 September Entry 13: GOCE team gearing up for new launch date Entry 14: GOCE launch postponed Entry 15: March launch planned for GOCE Entry 16: Team make ready to wake up GOCE Entry 17: GOCE revealed as container opened Entry 18: A busy week Entry 19: GOCE meets launcher Upper Stage Entry 20: Encapsulation Entry 21: On the launch pad Entry 22: Launch rehearsed Entry 23: GOCE launched and in orbit

In depth

Plesetsk