Thermal Test Underway For ESA’s Latest Craft: Plato
Industry Related News: United States – June 2022:
Designed to detect planets the size of Earth, ESA’s Plato is composed of 26 cameras that will perform thorough observations of neighboring stars. This array of cameras has been designed to pick up on any tiny variations of light caused by said exoplanets, providing ESA with a better understanding of what lies in space. These cameras require a fixed optical-quality rigidity, something that must withstand the extreme temperatures and nature of space. The craft itself will be over 932,000 miles from Earth for the duration of its trip.
Luckily, Plato has been subjected to extensive testing, and most recently, it has been put through the paces with a thermal chamber. This testing process includes subjecting Plato against temperature variations, as well as determining its thermal balance (or the operating temperature of the craft within these conditions). In order to accomplish this, the spacecraft was placed inside ESA’s (and Europe’s) largest thermal vacuum test chamber – the Large Space Simulator. The chamber measures 15m high by 10m wide, or around 49.25ft by 33ft. This colossal chamber is utilized for all types of thermal testing, and is incredibly important for Plato in particular.
Without thermal testing, Plato could encounter situations in space that result in it no longer operating. If the cameras were to fail, the craft would ultimately be rendered useless. To avoid this unfortunate outcome, ESA makes heavy use of thermal testing with all of their spacecraft. This ensures that the finished result will be able to withstand whatever space throws at it.
The thermal vacuum test began in March of 2022, and only just finished at the end of May. For the final flight-ready version of Plato, the vacuum test will need to take place at a variety of different facilities. This includes SRON in Groningen, INTA in Madrid, and IAS in Paris. This testing process will take the ESA into autumn of 2024. This will provide ample time before the craft’s scheduled launch, sometime in 2026.
The European Space Agency, “Plato’s Cave: Vacuum Test For Exoplanet Detection“ esa.int, Accessed 2 June 2022.
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