Overview of ESA communication activities in 2009 relevant to the media   A picture of the Herschel spacecraft being prepared for acoustic tests. On 5 and 6 June 2008, the Herschel spacecraft successfully passed its acoustic tests. During the tests, the spacecraft was subjected to acoustic noise, generated to simulate the noise levels during launch, at the European Space Research and Technology Centre’s Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF).   Artist's impression of GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Explorer) satellite. GOCE is the first Core Earth Explorer satellite to be developed as part of ESA’s Living Planet Programme.   ESA astronaut Frank De Winne inspects a Space Station bedroom mock-up in the full-sized Node-2 training model at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC), in Cologne, Germany. De Winne is scheduled to take part in a long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) between May and November 2009.   SMOS - Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission   Release date: 5 January 2009