The largest digital camera, the GAIA telescope, was successfully delivered to the L2 (Sun-Earth) design point

On Habré, more than once they wrote about the GAIA space telescope, whose main task is to compile the most accurate map of the Milky Way. The telescope is also called the largest digital camera in the world because it is equipped with a 1 * 0.5 meter matrix and a resolution of 938 MP.

On December 19, the device was launched from the Kourou space center (French Guiana), and now the telescope has reached the estimated point, located 1.5 million kilometers from our planet.
')


It should be noted that the delivery of the telescope to the Lagrange point L2 of the Earth-Sun system was quite a challenge. At the same time, it was necessary to “lead” the apparatus in a given direction, and to protect the equipment from the radiation of the Sun.

The verification of the device’s performance began on the way to the calculated point, but the GAIA operating mode will enter 100% only after four months. The estimated life of the device is 5 years. The project team claims that over these five years the telescope will provide so much data that additional time will be needed to process them. Of course, all these data will be able to benefit science.



Via esa