Chemical Engineering @ChemengFiles.Com

In the framework of the scientific programs of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been announced for May 14 next Ariane 5 launch of a particularly awaited by the international scientific community.

In this event, the European launcher carried the two most complex satellite to date in Europe: Herschel and Planck. Be placed in an orbit at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from earth, after a trip in the space of about four months. These new space telescopes will be able to provide information astrophysical unprecedented accuracy and an unprecedented about the universe, its origins and its evolution. The group Air Liquide, the world leader in cryogenics, has developed innovative technologies placed in the heart of these two scientific satellites.

For the Planck mission, Air Liquide has accepted a challenge to develop a unique technology mixes with cooler performance never previously achieved. Technologies Group and will enable extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero (- 273.15 ° C) determinant in a space environment. Planck will observe the universe as it was for more than 13 billion years due to the radiation emitted about 380,000 years after the Big Bang and continues to travel freely through space. To detect weaker signals emitted, it is essential to operate the instruments to a very low and stable temperature of 0.1 Kelvin, or one tenth of a degree on the absolute zero. The Planck satellite, equipped with your refrigerator, you can map the cosmic background radiation of the Universe during its period of operation which is about a year and a half. It is the first time this technology has been qualified for use espacial.En orbit, Planck will be the coldest point of the space, at 0.1 K to 2.7 K. For this exceptional project, Air Liquide teams have worked closely with experts from the Institute Neel (CNRS, National Center for Scientific Research in France) and the Institute of Space Astrophysics (IAS) for the National Center for Space Studies (CNES, France).