ESA
Renames FIRST to Herschel Space Observatory
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The European Space
Agency (ESA) has renamed the Far Infrared and Submillimeter
Telescope (FIRST) to Herschel Space Observatory. The satellite is
approximately 7 m high and 4.3 m wide, with a launch mass of  around
3.25 tonnes. The mission is scheduled to be launched in early 2007.
Herschel will be launched with Planck by an Ariane 5. Herschel will
be placed in a transfer trajectory towards its operational orbit
around the Earth-Sun L2 point 1.5 million km from Earth.
Herschel will carry
an infrared telescope and three scientific instruments. The
telescope is a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, with a primary mirror
diameter of 3.5 meters. The three instruments planned are HIFI
(Heterodyne Instrument for FIRST), a high-resolution spectrometer;
PACS (Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer) - a camera; and
SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric  Imaging
REceiver) - a photometer. The instruments will observe the far
infrared to submillimeter range of the spectrum (from 80 to 670
microns). The instruments will be cooled down to below minus 271
degrees C, less than three degrees above the absolute zero (-273
degrees C). Herschel has a planned operational lifetime of three
years minimum, offering potentially 7000 hours of science time
annually. It will be a multiuser observatory accessible to
astronomers from all over the world.
William Herschel, a
German astronomer, discovered infrared light 200 years ago.
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