Euclid Spacecraft Begins Ambitious Mission to Uncover the Secrets of the Universe
In a historic launch, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid spacecraft was successfully lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The mission, which aims to unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, marks the beginning of an ambitious endeavor to answer the fundamental question: what is the Universe made of?
After separating from the rocket, Euclid’s signal was confirmed by ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The acquisition of signal was received via the New Norcia ground station in Australia.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher expressed his excitement about the successful launch, stating that Euclid’s mission is a new scientific endeavor that will help answer one of the most compelling questions of modern science. He emphasized that the mission was made possible through collaboration with international partners and the effort and expertise of hundreds of European industrial and scientific institutions.
Giuseppe Racca, ESA’s Euclid Project Manager, highlighted the challenges faced during the project but expressed pride in reaching this milestone together with their partners in the Euclid Consortium and NASA.
Euclid’s mission is to observe billions of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years away and create the largest and most accurate 3D map of the Universe. By studying the shape, position, and movement of galaxies, scientists hope to understand how matter is distributed across vast distances and how the expansion of the Universe has evolved over cosmic history. This will provide insights into the properties of dark energy and dark matter, ultimately improving our understanding of gravity and these enigmatic entities.
Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science, emphasized the significance of Euclid’s mission in advancing cosmological studies. She stated that uncovering the nature of dark matter and dark energy is crucial for understanding the Universe we live in. The detailed map of the extra-galactic sky that Euclid will provide will also enable further investigations in astronomy for years to come.
Equipped with a 1.2 m reflecting telescope, Euclid carries two advanced scientific instruments: the visible-wavelength camera (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP). These instruments will capture sharp images of galaxies and analyze their infrared light to accurately determine their distance.
The spacecraft and communications will be controlled from ESOC, and ESA’s Estrack network of deep space antennas has been upgraded to handle the vast amounts of data Euclid will acquire. The data will be analyzed by the Euclid Consortium, which consists of over 2000 scientists from more than 300 institutes across Europe, the US, Canada, and Japan.
Over the course of six years, Euclid will survey one-third of the sky with unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity. The mission’s data will be released annually and made accessible to the global scientific community through the Science Archive hosted at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain.
René Laureijs, ESA’s Euclid Project Scientist, expressed excitement about the mission’s potential to unravel the mystery of dark matter and dark energy. He emphasized that Euclid’s advanced telescope and powerful scientific instrumentation position it well to tackle this formidable challenge.
In the coming weeks, Euclid will travel towards Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, where it will be maneuvered into orbit around this point. Scientists and engineers will then enter an intense two-month phase of testing and calibrating Euclid’s scientific instruments before routine observations begin.
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