Spacecraft and observatory web pages

General information

• The Herschel spacecraft has a modular design. On the left, facing the "warm" side and on the right, facing the "cold" side of the spacecraft, the middle image names the major components.:

* Herschel Observers' Manual (HTML) and PDF (6.2 MB)

Pointing calibration and performance

• Plan
• Pointing calibration report, v1.0 (November, 2009): pointing_calibration_report_v10.pdf
• Spacecraft/instrument alignment matrix historical record

The table below shows the recent SIAM update history (from OD299 onwards) showing the SIAM file used in up-link and the suggested down-link one. The SIAM matrices are a component of the auxiliary context inside the observation context.

• A quite complete summary of current and past pointing performances can be found here

Spacecraft health monitoring

Spacecraft temperature tracking

• The figure below shows the temperature evolution of the main mirror (M1), the Cyo Vacuum Vessel (CVV) and the Sun-Shade (SS) of the Herschel Spacecraft since OD 50 (2009-07-02) to OD 630 (2011-02-02) plus M1 and CVV comparison to OD 1047 (2012-03-25):

Radiation environment tracking

• The radiation monitor on-board Herschel is called SREM for Standard Radiation Environment Monitor. SREM raw and calibrated data products are delivered with the Herschel observations as part of the auxiliary context, inside the observation context. The SREM units detect and count electrons, protons and cosmic rays with a coarse spectral resolution and ±20◦ angular resolution. The measurements are based on silicon diodes polarized in reverse by a high voltage. The SREM consists of three detectors, D1, D2 and D3, mounted in two heads. One head consists of a single silicon diode (D3) and its main entrance window is covered with an aluminium plate of 0.7mm, defining a lower energy threshold of ~0.5MeV for electrons and ~10MeV for protons. The other head uses to silion diodes (D1/D2) arranged in a telescope configuration. The main entrance window is covered with an aluminum plate of 2mm providing a threshold of 1.5MeV for electrons and 20MeV for protons.

• SREM calibrated 5-minutes-rebinned counts from the 30th of October 2009 to 7 August 2012, a second plot zooming on the large solar Flares on the 23rd Jan and on the 7th of March 2012, the largest ever in the history of the Herschel mission:

-- MiguelSanchez - 07 Aug 2012