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CoRoT

CoRoT
CoRoT.jpg
Artist’s view of COROT
Mission type Space observatory
Operator CNES / ESA
COSPAR ID 2006-063A
SATCAT no. 29678
Website smsc.cnes.fr/COROT
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 (2006-12-27T14:24)
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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