On July 1, 2023, at 11:12 a.m. EDT, the ESA's Euclid spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the United States, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. An ambitious endeavour to identify the characteristics of two enigmatic elements of our universe, dark matter and dark energy, and to assist us in determining their composition, has been successfully launched. ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, verified the receipt of a signal from Euclid through the New Norcia ground station in Australia at 17:57 CEST (11:57 a.m. EDT) following launch and separation from the rocket.
"The successful launch of Euclid marks the beginning of a new scientific endeavour to help us answer one of the most compelling questions of modern science," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said. "The leadership of ESA, the work and experience of hundreds of European industrial and scientific organisations, and the cooperation with foreign partners have all contributed to the success of Euclid. What makes us human is our need to find answers to the big questions about the universe. Furthermore, it frequently serves as the impetus for the advancement of research and the creation of new, transformative technologies. ESA is devoted to advancing Europe's goals and achievements in space for the next generations.
According to Giuseppe Racca, project manager for the ESA's Euclid space telescope, "The Euclid mission is the result of the passion and expertise of those who contributed to designing and building this sophisticated space telescope, the competence of our flight operations team, and the inquisitive spirit of the science community." Although there were numerous obstacles to overcome during the project, with the help of our collaborators at NASA and the Euclid Consortium, we were able to successfully complete this launch milestone. Two extremely cutting-edge scientific equipment, the visible-wavelength camera (VIS) and the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), were provided by the Euclid Consortium. The NISP detectors came from NASA.
Exploring the Dark Universe
The most comprehensive, most precise 3D map of the universe will be made by Euclid by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, with the third dimension standing in for time itself. Astronomers will be able to determine the characteristics of dark energy and dark matter using this intricate diagram of the form, location, and motion of galaxies. It will show how matter is spread across vast distances and how the expansion of the Universe has changed over cosmic history. This will aid researchers in better defining the nature of these mysterious creatures and the function of gravity.
ESA's Director of Science Carole Mundell said, "Today we celebrate the successful launch of a pioneering mission that puts Europe at the forefront of cosmic study. If we want to understand the world in which we exist, we must learn the nature of dark matter and dark energy and understand the role they played in creating our world. Euclid will provide the most thorough extragalactic sky atlas in order to answer these fundamental concerns. The scientific community will be able to examine many more facets of astronomy for many years to come because of this immeasurable abundance of data.
Euclid has a 1.2 m reflecting telescope that feeds two cutting-edge scientific tools: VIS, which can take extremely sharp images of galaxies over a significant portion of the sky, and NISP, which can analyse galaxies' infrared light by wavelength to precisely determine their distance. ESOC will manage the spacecraft and communications. The Estrack network of deep space antennae has been improved by the ESA to handle the enormous volumes of data Euclid will collect. The Euclid Consortium, a team of more than 2000 scientists from more than 300 institutes across Europe, the US, Canada, and Japan, will examine these data.
The European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain will house the Science Archive, where Euclid's data will be made available to the scientific community worldwide on an annual basis as the programme advances. René Laureijs, the Euclid Project Scientist for the European Space Agency (ESA), said, "This is a tremendous moment for science. We have long anticipated the launch of Euclid, on a mission to unravel the mystery of dark matter and dark energy. "The enormous puzzle of the universe's essential elements is staring us in the face and is a difficult task. Euclid is positioned to assist us in solving this puzzle because of its sophisticated telescope and strong scientific equipment.
Journey to Lagrange Point 2
Euclid will move in the direction of Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, which is 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth (about four times the Earth-Moon distance), during the course of the following four weeks. Euclid will next be manoeuvred into orbit near this position, where mission controllers will begin the procedures for checking the telescope, the spacecraft's systems as a whole, and turning on the scientific equipment. After then, scientists and engineers will work hard for two months to test and calibrate Euclid's scientific equipment and get ready for routine observations. With previously unheard-of precision and sensitivity, Euclid will survey one-third of the sky over the course of six years.
About Euclid
NASA provided funding for the construction and operation of the European mission, Euclid. The Euclid Consortium is in charge of providing scientific equipment and analysing scientific data. Airbus Defence and Space was chosen by ESA to create the payload module, which includes the telescope, while Thales Alenia Space was chosen as the prime contractor for building the satellite and its service module. The NISP, or Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, detectors were supplied by NASA. The Cosmic Vision Programme of the ESA includes the medium-class mission, Euclid.
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