ESA ships assembled Euclid spacecraft for final environment tests in France; pics surface

European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid spacecraft has completed assembly phase and has now been shipped for furr tests. Taking to Twitter, ESA revealed that spacecraft is on its way from Italy's Turin to Thales Alenia Space’s plant in France where it will be subjected to final environmental tests. Currently, Euclid is in fourth phase of its development before launch campaign, targeted for 2023, begins. 

" fully integrated Euclid spacecraft has been packed in a container and left Turin last night for final environment tests at Thales Alenia Space plant in Cannes in France, prior to launch campaign!", ESA Euclid wrote in a tweet.

Euclid nears perfection ahe of 2023 launch

Earlier in June, ESA announced that mission team, including engineers from Thales Alenia Space, has completed assembly of spacecraft. In next step, spacecraft will be tested to determine if it is rey to face harsh conditions of a rocket launch and operate in outer space. Notably, spacecraft is basically a huge telescope that would map universe to study dark universe and help scientists better understand origin of universe's expansion.

Tap here to re more about Euclid's objectives.

During tests, spacecraft will undergo periods of intense vibrations to prepare it for violent rocket launch as well as face intense temperature fluctuations that Euclid will face during its mission. About size of a small bus, Euclid spacecraft's orbital weight would be two tonnes. This weight would be contributed by 805 kg of paylo module, 865 kg service module, up to 120 kg of balancing mass and 210 kg of propellant.

According to ESA, spacecraft will be launched from Europe's Kourou spaceport in French Guiana for its destination at second Lagrange point (L2). Located approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, L2 is where James Webb Space Telescope and Gaia observatory have been installed. Scientists prefer this location for certain missions for its gravitational stability and better fuel efficiency it provides.