CHEOPS - CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite logo.
Jan. 24, 2020
The Swiss space telescope team wants to optimize certain parameters of the instrument. The opening of the telescope cover, scheduled for Monday, January 27, has been postponed.
Image above: Opening the CHEOPS lid is irreversible, all the more reason to be careful. Image Credit: ESA.
The Swiss space telescope CHEOPS will send its first images of space later than expected. Some tests will be repeated and the opening of the lid is postponed for a few days, announced the University of Bern on Friday.
The telescope cover was scheduled to open on Monday, January 27. Even if everything has worked perfectly since its launch on December 18, the CHEOPS team has come to the conclusion, based on the analysis of all the data, that certain parameters of the instrument can still be optimized. Some measures have therefore been repeated, which results in a slight delay compared to the initial planning.
Irreversible opening
The decision was made because the lid opening is irreversible: all pending trials and activities that require a closed lid must be completed and interpreted correctly before opening. The delay will have no impact on CHEOPS 'overall operational plan and the start of scientific exploitation.
Since its launch, the space telescope has revolved around the Earth at an altitude of 700 kilometers. The gradual commissioning of its various functions since the beginning of January went very well, continues the University of Bern. Various tests have been carried out to ensure that the instrument and its platform are functioning properly.
CHEOPS orbiting the Earth
CHEOPS also produced the first images which it transmitted to Earth. With the telescope cover still closed, these images are black, but they are essential for calibrating the instrument.
Under the aegis of the University of Bern
CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is a project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland. Over a hundred scientists from eleven European countries have built the telescope under the aegis of the University of Bern. Its objectives are to study exoplanets by observing the stars around which they orbit.
Nearly 4,000 exoplanets - orbiting a star other than the Sun - have been detected since the discovery of the first, 51 Pegasi b, 24 years ago by the 2019 Nobel Prize winners Didier Queloz, of the University of Geneva, and Michel Mayor.
The goal of CHEOPS is not to seek out new ones, but to analyze those already identified to try to understand what they are made of. This is a step in the long quest for extraterrestrial life forms, but also for the origins of the Earth.
Related links:
CHEOPS Mission Home Page: https://cheops.unibe.ch/
ESA CHEOPS: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cheops
Image (mentioned), Animation, Text, Credits: ATS/ESA/UNIBE/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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