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This timelapse video captures the activities to move Plato into the Large Space Simulator\u00a0(LSS) at ESA\u2019s Test Centre. Inside the LSS, Europe’s largest cryo-vacuum chamber, Plato had to demonstrate that it can withstand the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space.<\/p>\n
In the video we see how engineers used a special crane to lift Plato out of a cleanroom through an opening in the ceiling and move it over the top opening of the LSS. Then, the spacecraft was gently lowered into the dark-walled chamber, all the way down to a supporting frame that holds the spacecraft in place.<\/p>\n
Once the chamber\u2019s top and side hatches were sealed, engineers began a series of vital tests of the spacecraft under space\u2011like conditions.<\/p>\n
Many of the tests were designed to verify that Plato\u2019s 26 cameras performed as required for achieving the mission\u2019s main goal: to discover potentially habitable, Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars.<\/p>\n
In the video, Plato\u2019s delicate cameras are covered with a blanket to protect them from stray dust particles.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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