CoRoT
Artist’s view of COROT
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| Mission type | Space observatory |
|---|---|
| Operator | CNES / ESA |
| COSPAR ID | 2006-063A |
| SATCAT no. | 29678 |
| Website | smsc |
| Mission duration | 2.5 + 4 years (planned) 6 years, 3 months, 4 days (elapsed) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | CNES Thales Alenia Space |
| Launch mass | 630 kg (1,390 lb) |
| Payload mass | 300 kg (660 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2 m × 4 m (6.6 ft × 13.1 ft) |
| Power | ~380 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 14:24, December 27, 2006 |
| Rocket | Soyuz 2.1b Fregat |
| Launch site | Baikonur LC-31/6 |
| Contractor |
Arianespace Starsem |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Polar |
| Semi-major axis | 7,123 km (4,426 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0203702 |
| Perigee | 607.8 km (377.7 mi) |
| Apogee | 898.1 km (558.1 mi) |
| Inclination | 90.0336 degrees |
| Period | 99.7 minutes |
| RAAN | 13.64 degrees |
| Argument of perigee | 148.21 degrees |
| Mean anomaly | 213.16 degrees |
| Mean motion | 14.44 rev/day |
| Epoch | 8 March 2016, 11:58:39 UTC |
| Revolution no. | 47715 |
| Main telescope | |
| Type | Afocal |
| Diameter | 27 cm (11 in) |
| Focal length | 1.1 m (43 in) |
| Wavelengths | Visible light |
CoRoT (French: COnvection ROtation et Transits planétaires; English: COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits) is a space observatory mission led by the French Space Agency (CNES) in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) and other international partners. The mission's two objectives are to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly those of large terrestrial size, and to perform asteroseismology by measuring solar-like oscillations in stars.
It was launched at 14:28:00 UTC on 27 December 2006, atop a Soyuz 2.1b rocket, reporting first light on 18 January 2007. Subsequently, the probe started to collect science data on 2 February 2007. CoRoT is the first spacecraft dedicated to the detection of transiting extrasolar planets, opening the way for more advanced probes such as Kepler as well as future missions such as TESS and PLATO. It detected its first extrasolar planet, COROT-1b, in May 2007, just 3 months after the start of the observations. Mission flight operations were originally scheduled to end 2.5 years from launch but operations were extended to 2013. On 2 November 2012, CoRoT suffered a computer failure that made it impossible to retrieve any data from its telescope. After repair attempts, on 24 June 2013, it was announced that CoRoT has been retired and would be decommissioned; lowered in orbit to allow it to burn up in the atmosphere.
The CoRoT optical design minimizes stray light coming from the Earth and provides a field of view of 2.7° by 3.05°. The CoRoT optical path consists of a 27 cm (10.6 in) diameter off-axis afocal telescope housed in a two-stage opaque baffle specifically designed to block sunlight reflected by the Earth and a camera consisting of a dioptric objective and a focal box. Inside the focal box is an array of four CCD detectors protected against radiation by aluminum shielding 10mm thick. The asteroseismology CCDs are defocused by 760μm toward the dioptric objective to avoid saturation of the brightest stars. A prism in front of the planet detection CCDs gives a small spectrum designed to disperse more strongly in the blue wavelengths.
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