| Planck is the first European mission to study the birth of the Universe
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Successful launch on 14 May 2009 at 13:12 UTC
Together with Herschel onboard an Ariane 5 ECA from CSG, Kourou, French Guiana
| LAUNCH DATE: |
14-May-2009 13:12 UT
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| MISSION END: | 2011 (extended mission) |
| LAUNCH VEHICLE: | Ariane 5 ECA |
| LAUNCH MASS: | about 1900 kg |
| MISSION PHASE: |
Routine operations |
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Lissajous orbit about the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system (L2), with an average amplitude of about 400 000 km |
The primary science goals of Planck include: - Mapping the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies with improved sensitivity and angular resolution
- Determination of Hubble constant
- Testing inflationary models of the early Universe
- Measuring the amplitude of structures in the Cosmic Microwave Background
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Planck will help provide answers to some of the most important questions in modern science: how did the Universe begin, how did it evolve to the state we observe today, and how will it continue to evolve in the future? Planck's objective is to analyse, with the highest accuracy ever achieved, the remnants of the radiation that filled the Universe immediately after the Big Bang - this we observe today as the Cosmic Microwave Background. |
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