![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2015\/06\/surrounded_by_gaia\/15496904-1-eng-GB\/Surrounded_by_Gaia_small.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\nA full-size working model of Gaia\u2019s internal systems arrived in Germany this week. The Avionics Model is mounted in a circular set-up representing the systems on the actual satellite, now orbiting the Sun\u2013Earth L2 point<\/a> about 1 500 000 km from Earth.\n<\/p>\n \nWith the model at ESA\u2019s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, the ESA flight control specialists responsible for Gaia now have access to a fully functional test bench of the inner workings of the billion-star surveyor.\n<\/p>\n \nThe model will remain at ESOC for the rest of the mission, with the team trained to use and maintain it with the support of Airbus Defence and Space, Toulouse, the prime contractor during Gaia\u2019s development.\n<\/p>\n \nThe model was a whopping 4×4 m at its base, and could only be moved at night owing to its size.\n<\/p>\n \nGaia is on a mission to make the largest, most precise 3D map of our Galaxy by surveying more than a thousand million stars.\n<\/p>\n \nGaia will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a five-year period. It will precisely chart their positions, distances, movements and changes in brightness. It is expected to discover hundreds of thousands of new celestial objects, such as extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs, and observe hundreds of thousands of asteroids within our own Solar System.\n<\/p>\n \nThe mission will also study some 500 000 distant quasars<\/a> and will provide stringent new tests of Albert Einstein\u2019s General Theory of Relativity.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the image (L-R): Sonia Perez (AirbusD&S), Andreas Rudolph, Kevin Kewin, Guillermo Lorenzo. More images via Flickr<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nGaia mission operations<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \nGaia mission website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t\t \nA full-size working model of Gaia\u2019s internal systems arrived in Germany this week. The Avionics Model is mounted in a circular set-up representing the systems on the actual satellite, now orbiting the Sun\u2013Earth L2 point<\/a> about 1 500 000 km from Earth.\n<\/p>\n \nWith the model at ESA\u2019s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, the ESA flight control specialists responsible for Gaia now have access to a fully functional test bench of the inner workings of the billion-star surveyor.\n<\/p>\n \nThe model will remain at ESOC for the rest of the mission, with the team trained to use and maintain it with the support of Airbus Defence and Space, Toulouse, the prime contractor during Gaia\u2019s development.\n<\/p>\n \nThe model was a whopping 4×4 m at its base, and could only be moved at night owing to its size.\n<\/p>\n \nGaia is on a mission to make the largest, most precise 3D map of our Galaxy by surveying more than a thousand million stars.\n<\/p>\n \nGaia will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a five-year period. It will precisely chart their positions, distances, movements and changes in brightness. It is expected to discover hundreds of thousands of new celestial objects, such as extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs, and observe hundreds of thousands of asteroids within our own Solar System.\n<\/p>\n \nThe mission will also study some 500 000 distant quasars<\/a> and will provide stringent new tests of Albert Einstein\u2019s General Theory of Relativity.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the image (L-R): Sonia Perez (AirbusD&S), Andreas Rudolph, Kevin Kewin, Guillermo Lorenzo. More images via Flickr<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n