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Photo of Plato inside the Large Space Simulator\u00a0(LSS), at ESA\u2019s Test Centre, where Plato recently completed a series of tough tests under space\u2011like conditions.<\/p>\n
The picture was taken from the top of the LSS after the chamber was reopened. It gives us a direct view of Plato\u2019s 26 ultrasensitive cameras. These are the special eyes that the mission will use to monitor more than 150\u00a0000 bright stars at the same time, hunting for terrestrial planets orbiting Sun-like stars.<\/p>\n
Many of the tests run while Plato was in the LSS aimed at verifying that the cameras performed as required.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
[Image description:<\/i> Photo of a large spacecraft sitting in a black-walled enclosure, taken looking down to the spacecraft. The top of the spacecraft features the shiny lenses of 26 large cameras in hues of bright blue and magenta. The cameras are mounted on a five\u2011stepped platform and arranged in four rows of six cameras, plus a top row with two cameras.]<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n