Animation showing the deployment of Gaia's sunshade. During launch, the 10 m-wide sunshield is stowed against the spacecraft. Shortly after Gaia separates from its launch vehicle, the sunshield is deployed around the base of the spacecraft. It consists of 12 long rectangular panels covered with multilayer insulation blankets, and 12 triangular sections to fill in the gaps.
The shield has two purposes: to shade Gaia's sensitive telescopes and cameras, keeping them cool at a stable temperature below –100ºC, and to provide power to operate the spacecraft. Gaia will always point away from the Sun, so the underside of the skirt is covered with solar panels to generate electricity.
Gaia, ESA's billion-star surveyor, will be launched into space towards the end of this year.
In the meantime, ESA Space Science has launched a new 'minisite' focused on the Gaia mission. Original Source
A
supermoon rises behind the Washington Monument, Sunday, June 23, 2013,
in Washington. This year the supermoon is up to 13.5% larger and 30%
brighter than a typical full moon is.
This is a result of the Moon
reaching its perigree - the closest that it gets to the Earth during the
course of its orbit. During perigree on June 23, the moon was about
221,824 miles away, as compared to the 252,581 miles away that it is at
its furthest distance from the Earth (apogee).