Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Illuminating the dark: Ahead with the Euclid mission
by Staff Writers
London, UK (SPX) Jun 25, 2012


The Euclid Consortium is the biggest astronomy collaboration ever created and is already bigger than the existing ESA Planck and GAIA missions.

UK teams working on the mission to study the "dark Universe" are being granted a planned 8.5M pounds by the UK Space Agency to develop scientific instruments. This is following the formal adoption of the largest collaboration of astronomers in the world by the European Space Agency (ESA) to help build the Euclid satellite. This is the final phase in the selection of Euclid as part of ESA's "Cosmic Vision" programme also strongly funded by the UK Space Agency.

An army of physicists and engineers have been set in motion to build and fly this new mission by the end of this decade. Euclid will study the enigmatic dark matter and dark energy with great precision, tracing its distribution and evolution throughout the Universe.

The additional investment by the UK Space Agency has been awarded to the eight UK institutions involved in Euclid that will be part of an international collaboration of nearly a thousand scientists.

The Euclid Consortium is the biggest astronomy collaboration ever created and is already bigger than the existing ESA Planck and GAIA missions. The 8.5M will support the UK teams in their lead roles in both of the instruments over the next 5 years (subject to confirmation following the next Spending Review).

The Euclid Consortium will provide two instruments to ESA. UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory is leading the development of the visible imaging instrument (VIS) and is being supported by more than Pounds 5M pounds from the UK Space Agency. The Open University is receiving a grant for its involvement in the near infrared imaging and spectrograph instrument (NISP).

David Parker, Director of Technology, Science and Exploration at the UK Space Agency said: "This is a huge mission - from the importance of the data Euclid will collect to the size of the team involved in putting it into space. The UK is playing a considerable part in both of the instruments and the Science Ground Segment.

"It is a fantastic example of the leadership of our scientists and facilities. At the heart of the mission is one of the billion pound questions of physics and the UK Space Agency is proud to be funding the teams that are working to unlock some of the great mysteries of the Universe."

These state-of-the-art instruments, equipped with wide-field cameras, will create a huge amount of exceptional quality data over a large percentage of the sky. It will require sophisticated computer resources dedicated to analysing this data; looking for the miniscule signature of dark energy, which is difficult to locate even though dark energy is thought to make up 75% of the energy density in the Universe.

To enable this analysis, the UK Space Agency is also funding the UK's contribution to the programme's Science Ground Segment (SGS). This is being developed through a consortium of institutes comprising Edinburgh (lead), UCL, MSSL, Portsmouth, Oxford, Durham, Hertfordshire and Cambridge. The SGS will coordinate all Euclid data, and include hundreds of scientists at institutions across Europe.

Bob Nichol, Euclid Consortium Communications Lead at the University of Portsmouth said: "This is great for UK astrophysics, really puts us at the forefront of this fundamental science alongside our European colleagues. We have key roles in building the eyes of Euclid and analysing its data to see the signatures of the dark energy and dark matter. We've all worked so hard for this day!"

In 2007 several mission concepts were selected for studies in response to a competitive call by ESA for 'Medium' class missions to occupy the first two launch slots in the Cosmic Vision plan. Euclid is now an official ESA mission and solidifies the Euclid Consortium at forefront of worldwide research into the "Dark Universe".

Demonstrating its commitment to world-class science, the UK Space Agency has now confirmed major contributions to both of ESA's new science missions, Solar Orbiter and Euclid.

.


Related Links
The UK Space Agency
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Dark Universe mission blueprint complete
Paris, France (ESA) Jun 25, 2012
ESA's Euclid mission to explore the hidden side of the Universe - dark energy and dark matter - has reached an important milestone that will see it head towards full construction. Selected in October 2011 alongside Solar Orbiter as one of the first two medium-class missions of the Cosmic Vision 2015-25 plan, Euclid received final approval from ESA's Science Programme Committee to move into the f ... read more


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
ESA to catch laser beam from Moon mission

Researchers Estimate Ice Content of Crater at Moon's South Pole

Researchers find evidence of ice content at the moon's south pole

Nanoparticles found in moon glass bubbles explain weird lunar soil behaviour

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
NASA tweaks flight path of Mars mission

Extensive Water in Mars Interior

Orbiter Out of Precautionary 'Safe Mode'

Researchers calculate size of particles in Martian clouds of CO2 snow

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
XCOR and Excalibur Almaz sign MOU for suborbital training services

Complex Challenges Solved In Tech Meetings For Commercial Crew Program

Boeing Completes Key Reviews of Space Launch System

Two NASA Visualizations Selected for Computers Graphics Showcase

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Experts respond to rumors about Shenzhou-9

Staying stimulated in space

China's Hu praises astronauts for space advance

Packing Up Tiangong

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
New Space Station Crew Confirmed

Spacewalk to work on ISS scheduled

Did You Say 1.2 Billion Particles Per Month?

Varied Views from the ISS

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
USAF officials announce milestone Atlas V launch

EVE Underflight Calibration Sounding Rocket Launch

ILS and AsiaSat Announce a New Contract for an ILS Proton Launch

A milestone in launcher preparations for Arianespace's fourth Ariane 5 flight of 2012

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Forgotten Star Cluster Useful For Solar Science And Search for Earth Like Planets

SciTechTalk: Quick, name the planets!

Where Are The Metal Worlds And Is The Answer Blowing In The Wind

Metal-poor stars are rich with small planets

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
India readies upgrade of 'world's cheapest' tablet

Google to talk tablets, TV, social and more

NuSTAR Mission Status Report: Observatory Unfurls its Unique Mast

Toxic legacy in Malaysia rare-earths village




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement