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Extreme machine simulates space conditions

7 May 2002

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Integral, a scientific project in ESA's Horizon 2000 programme, stands for International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. It will be carried out in cooperation with NASA and the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI) with a launch being planned for October 2002. The Integral mission should last 2 years but could be extended to 5 years. From mid-April to early May 2002, ESA's gamma-ray detecting spacecraft, Integral, undergoes a series of tests at the Large Space Simulator (LSS), a giant thermal-vacuum chamber located at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Credits: ESA-A.Van Der Geest

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The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in October 2002 and will help to solve some of the biggest mysteries in astronomy.

Credits: ESA-D. Ducros