24 July 2009 Herschel and Planck have both passed an important 'exam' they were to take before they could go about doing what space telescopes and observatories do.
Both missions have successfully completed their in-orbit commissioning reviews.
The spacecraft are in excellent condition, their instruments
have been commissioned, and are now certified ready to begin the
performance verification phase to attain optimum performance for
scientific observations.
This marks the end of the development phase and the start of the
operational phase for both missions.
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