CHEOPS SPACE TELESCOPE

The European Space Agency's CHEOPS mission is currently studying planets orbiting distant stars, known as exoplanets. We spoke to CHEOPS Project Scientist Kate Isaak to find out more. The links Kate refers to in the interview can be found here: https://esa.int/cheops https://sci.esa.int/cheops https://cosmos.esa.int/cheops https://cheops.unibe.ch/

Join us for a SETI Live with Laetitia Delrez (@LaetitiaDelrez) from the University of Liege and Kate Isaak, Project Scientist at ESA on CHEOPS. The CHEOPS mission (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is the first of the newly created “S-class missions” of ESA (small class missions with an ESA budget of less than 50 million), and is dedicated to characterizing the transits of exoplanets. The mission has recently reached a new milestone, since it has been declared ready for science. Researchers will tell us the goals of the mission and what to expect in the follow years from this highly accurate transiting light curves provided by the space telescope. Overview of CHEOPS at ESA: https://www.esa.int/cheops and https://www.sci.esa.int/cheops which includes details about the building phase of the project https://cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops aimed at scientists interested in CHEOPS and https://cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops-guest-observers-programme for people interested in applying for observing time on CHEOPS Also, mission webpages from the CHEOPS Mission Consortium: https://cheops.unibe.ch/ The CHEOPS data, once public, will be available through the CHEOPS mission archive at: https://cheops-archive.astro.unige.ch/archive_browser/ And for fun: a paper model to keep people busy building their own CHEOPS: https://sci.esa.int/web/cheops/-/59851-cheops-paper-model

The European Space Agency's Cheops (Characterising Exoplanet Satellite) mission launched in December 2019. Since then, it was run through a series of tests and star observations have begun. -- Europe's planet-hunting CHEOPS telescope spies its 1st alien worlds: https://www.space.com/cheops-space-telescope-first-exoplanet-discoveries.html Credit: ESA

Teams of scientists and engineers are simulating the launch, early orbit phase and commissioning of the CHEOPS mission ahead of its launch period in the last quarter of 2019. The simulations are taking place at the CHEOPS Mission Operations Centre at Torrejón de Ardoz, just outside Madrid in Spain. CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is a powerful telescope that will obtain measurements from stars outside our Solar System that have known planets. This information will tell us more about the nature of these exoplanets and whether they have the right conditions for life. The mission is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with additional contributions from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. This film contains contributions from Diana de Miguel, Airbus Defence & Space; and David Modrego, ISDEFE. Learn more: http://sci.esa.int/cheops/ ★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe and click twice on the bell button to receive our notifications. Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/SpaceInVideos Follow us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/ESAonTwitter On Facebook: http://bit.ly/ESAonFacebook On Instagram: http://bit.ly/ESAonInstagram On Flickr: http://bit.ly/ESAonFlickr We are Europe's gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related. Copyright information about our videos is available here: http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions #ESA #Cheops #ExoPlanets

The CHEOPS satellite is mounted on a longitudinal shaker that forces it to vibrate at different frequencies. At the beginning of the test, performed at RUAG Space in Zurich, Switzerland, low-frequency sine-wave vibrations of 5 Hz are applied. As the test progresses, a sweep, using sine waves of increasing frequency, is performed up to the maximum of 100 Hz. Credit: ESA/Airbus/RUAG More information about this video can be found at http://sci.esa.int/cheops/60585-vibration-test/

Together with the CHEOPS space telescope more than 2700 miniaturized children's drawings will fly into space. The video shows how physicist Guido Bucher produced the plaques with the drawings at Berner Fachhochschule in Burgdorf.

Timelapse video of the installation of the CHEOPS instrument onto the platform. The instrument is lifted using the custom designed strongback onto the top panel of the spacecraft. After successful placement the mounting feet of the the telescope are securely bolted. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space, Madrid.

Integration of ESA's CHEOPS science instrument (top) with the spacecraft platform (bottom) in the cleanroom at Airbus Defence and Space in Madrid, Spain. The science instrument, which includes among other elements the telescope and detector, was built and tested at the University of Bern, Switzerland. It was shipped to Spain in April to be integrated with the spacecraft platform for further tests and launch preparations. Once in orbit, CHEOPS will observe transits of known exoplanets around bright stars to characterise these planetary systems. Credit: Airbus Defence and Space Spain More information about this video can be found at http://sci.esa.int/cheops/60328-cheops-satellite-integration/

The space telescope CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) instrument has left a clean room in Switzerland, where it was assembled and tested, and is now in Madrid for further launch preparations. The telescope will study hundreds of known exoplanets using the transit method - measuring the dip in light as a planet transits its parent star. CHEOPS will herald a new era of discovery. Its precision measurements will give more detailed information about a planet’s structure, atmosphere and surface temperature. It was built at the University of Bern and the mission is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with additional contributions from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Integration and testing of the CHEOPS spacecraft is ongoing and the project is on track to reach flight readiness by the end of 2018. This film contains soundbites from Willy Benz, CHEOPS principal investigator, ESA/University of Bern and Andrea Fortier, Cheops Instrument Scientist, ESA/University of Bern. ★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe Learn more: bit.ly/ESACHEOPS

CHEOPS space telescope getting ready for calibration at the University of Bern in January 2018.

CHEOPS space telescope getting ready for calibration at the University of Bern in January 2018.

Print out and build a paper model of Cheops, the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, a space science mission to study known exoplanets orbiting bright, nearby stars. Cheops will measure accurate sizes of Earth- to Neptune-sized planets. By combining this information with existing mass measurements, it will be possible to establish the bulk density and to put constraints on the composition of these planets. It is a Small-class mission in ESA’s Science programme in partnership with Switzerland, with important contributions from other ESA member states. Cheops paper model: http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=59851 Building the model requires scissors and glue. Remember to take into account ample time to cut out all the pieces.

Video about CHEOPS Mission

Video about CHEOPS Mission (without Text)

Vibration test of the CHEOPS telescope at the University of Bern, 15 August 2017.

The flight hardware of the CHEOPS telescope arrived at the University of Bern and was inspected in the clean room in May 2017.

Zu Besuch im CHEOPS-Testlabor an der Universität Bern

This film clip, produced by platform contractor, Airbus Defence and Space ( EADS CASA Espacio S.L, Spain),  is a  compilation of CHEOPS AIV and test activities in the six month period starting in Summer 2015, undertaken at facilities in Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Vibration testing of the CHEOPS Structural Model at RUAG Space in Zurich, Switzerland. (Credit: RUAG Space, Switzerland) RUAG Cheops V02 Original 11176

CHEOPS: the First Swiss-led ESA Mission