"Herschel and Planck, probing the Universe as never before"

"An Ariane 5 rocket will be lifting off soon from Kourou with the Herschel and Planck observatories, together the most important space science programme that the European Space Agency will have ever launched. The Herschel space telescope will be opening a new window on the Universe at far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths; Planck for its part will be studying the Cosmic Microwave Background, a fossil radiation relic of the Big Bang. Scientists expect great advances in our knowledge of how stars and galaxies are born, and a greater understanding of the evolution of the Universe.