Launch Party
The Big Day has finally arrived!
I’ve managed to submit my paper to the journal and the ArXiv before the little shindig we’ve been planning for the Planck and Herschel launch gets under way at 1pm. Business as usual so far, though.
Strangely, I haven’t managed to get nervous yet, although I have to say there are many anxious faces around the department. I just keep telling people how much simpler their life is going to be if it all goes wrong, without all that messy and unnecessarily complicated data to deal with. It bothers me sometimes that I don’t often get nervous expect when watching sport. Mind you, being a Newcastle United supporter probably makes me more nervous more often than most people.
Anyway, at times like this a stiff upper lip is obviously called for. Anyone who cracks now is clearly not officer material. There’ll be plenty of time for panic later on.
It’s now about 12.45 and the launch is scheduled for 14.12. With impeccable timing, the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, is due to arrive in the department at 14.30. I hope he doesn’t think it’s going to be delayed especially for him. I also hope we’re not all in tears when he gets here.
We’re going to be watching on a big screen via a satellite downlink. Not quite as good as being there in person, but probably better than watching it on the net (which you can do here).
Anyway, I can hear the wine bottles being opened so I’m going to barge my way to the front of the queue, feigning nerves in order to justify a calming tipple.
I’ll be back later to complete the story, for better or worse.
Fingers crossed. TTFN.
…………
Well here I am back from the do. It all seemed to go pretty well, although I wasn’t paying attention at the exact time of the launch – opening a bottle of wine – so I failed to get nervous even then. As far as I can tell the launch went like clockwork – or at least like Newtonian Mechanics – and the ground station even managed to handshake with both satellites after separation.
I was particularly impressed to see that ESA had roped in affable compère and media god Des Lynam to provide expertise in his accustomed role as TV anchor man, although for some reason he was operating under the pseudonym of David Southwood:
Anyway, all seems to be set fair. I’m delighted. It will be a while before we get any science results, as it takes several weeks to get to L2. I’m looking forward to first light from Herschel fairly soon, but science from Planck will be a while coming and even when it does it the information will be strictly controlled.
Anyway, in case you missed it here’s the liftoff!
P.S. We had a few bottles of special Herschel wine. Vintage 2001 Rioja, full-bodied and uncompromising. Not to everyone’s taste. I quite liked it but I was already quite drunk.
May 14, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Today I don’t believe in the Big Bang…
Anybody in your department with enough bad taste to offer odds?
Anton
May 14, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I phoned William Hill to see if they would offer odds on the launch but they wouldn’t quote. You could try them about the big bang…
May 14, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Yes, everything seems to have gone flawlessly with Planck and Herschel, a considerable achievement for ESA.
And NASA has been having its own great successes: the astronauts on the space shuttle today replaced the old WFPC2 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope with its successor, the WFC3.
Things are going really well for once. It won’t last.
May 14, 2009 at 10:42 pm
All good news, delighted!
Anton
May 15, 2009 at 11:25 am
You might like to read the rather good story on BBC Wales online.
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Reblogged this on In the Dark and commented:
A little birdie told me (via a tweet) that today is the 10th anniversary of the launch of the ESA Planck and Herschel satellite missions. Can it really be so long ago?
Anyway, both were superbly successful and both involved many friends and former colleagues from Cardiff and elsewhere, so I thought I’d reblog this post which I wrote on the day of the launch (on May 14 2009)….