Plato unfolds its solar array

Front and back views of ESA’s Plato spacecraft inside one of the cleanrooms at ESA’s Test Centre.

The photos were taken shortly after engineers tested the unfolding of the two wings of the combined sunshield and solar array module. They deployed the module’s left and right wings separately.

The solar panels wrap around the back of the spacecraft. Once in orbit, they will be facing the Sun, while the front of the spacecraft, with its 26 cameras will be oriented towards deep space.

In this photo, the cameras are covered with a blanket to further protect them from stray dust particles.

The overall layout of Plato is optimised to monitor simultaneously more than 150 000 bright stars, with high precision. This will enable scientists to hunt for terrestrial planets orbiting stars like the Sun.

[Image description: The collage of two images provides front and back views of a large satellite positioned inside a brightly lit cleanroom. In the top image, a person in a blue lab-coat and hairnet stands in front of a bulky piece of machinery covered in silver and gold thermal blankets. The lower image features a large solar array. This consists of mostly black, shining flat panels, with regularly spaced silver dots, interspersed with gold-coloured short strips.]

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