Herschel instrument cooling
At the start of 2008, an Ariane 5 rocket is set to blast off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guyana carrying the world’s largest space telescope, Herschel. The satellite was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) – with the assistance of Linde. Throughout the entire construction and test phase, we have been supplying the liquid helium required to cool the highly sensitive measuring instruments (such as cameras and spectrometers), integrated in a cryostat built and tested by EADS Astrium in Friedrichshafen, Germany. By the end of 2007, we will have delivered some 80,000 litres of liquid helium in total. When Herschel reaches its observation posts, 1.5 million kilometres from the earth, 2,000 litres of helium in the observatory cryostats will ensure the instruments are cooled to approximately –271 degrees Celsius for at least three years. Herschel will study the formation of galaxies in the early universe and their subsequent evolution. Featuring a mirror 3.5 metres in diameter, this new-generation telescope is the first space observatory covering the full far infrared and sub-millimetre waveband. The satellite is named after the German-born British astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel, who discovered infrared radiation in 1800.

Herschel telescope // Due to be launched in 2008, the world’s largest space telescope ever will be positioned 1.5 million kilometres away from earth – approximately 5 times the distance to the moon – to give us insights into the origin and development of stars and galaxies thousands of millions of light-years away. Featuring a mirror 3.5 metres in diameter, this new-generation telescope is the first space observatory covering the full far infrared and sub-millimetre waveband.