Updates and thoughts from the Euclid Project Manager

Giuseppe Racca (ESA Project Manager), March 2023

Following the major achievements of last year: 

• Installation and test of four micropropulsion pressure regulators following several issues;
• Repaired NIPS and VIS electronic units which had faulty circuit design, but no failure;
• Integration of the High Gain Antenna, Sunshield, Service Module and Payload module;
• Procured a new launch vehicle (Falcon9) following the discontinuation of Soyuz and A6 delays;
• System test campaign at environmental and functional level, including SVT/SOVTs with the instrument operations, the MOC, the SOC and the IOTs;
• Completion of the TBTV test and start of the mechanical tests;
• Ground Segment Readiness review showing the readiness to support the launch in July 2023,

the acceptance tests of the Euclid system have continued in the first part of this year 2023

Update from the Euclid Project ManagerRead More »

Updates and thoughts from the Euclid Project Scientist

René Laureiijs (ESA Project Scientist), March 2023

Finally, we now have a very firm launch interval, and it is approaching with light speed! We still have to tick off many boxes for the science operations, where a number of key operational activities must be defined in necessary detail. There is a large amount of work to be done related to the preparations for scheduling, processing, and analysis of the scientific (calibration) observations before the start of the Euclid survey. The daily science data rate in orbit will be huge and the timescales between the milestones are short, shorter than the time required to train completely new personnel. With a positive attitude, well-prepared teams, and good organisation we can meet our goals. There is certainly no lack of collaborative spirit and no fear of challenges, inherent to our ambition to break new scientific ground.

Update from the Euclid Project ScientistRead More »

CMBX Science Working Group updates

Carlo Baccigalupi, Giulio Fabbian, Stéphane Ilic

Introductory Remarks

The Cosmic Microwave Background Cross-Correlation Working Group (CMBXC WG) in Euclid has achieved significant milestones since the previous Consortium Meeting in Oslo. The team is now getting ready for analysis, starting with Data Release 1 (DR1). The group plans to exploit existing CMB Datasets – Planck in particular – and to provide support to the Consortium in connecting  with operating and future CMB observational campaigns. The activities of the group progress towards completion of the planned papers within the Key Projects (KPs) on (1) Simulations & Covariances, (2) Estimators, (3) Likelihood, and (4) Extended Forecasts, as described in the following. As the post-launch phase approaches, the group has been increasing its efforts in interfacing with the activities of the rest of the Consortium, in particular with regards to the Inter-Science Working Group Taskforce Likelihood (ISTL), as well as the Science Ground Segment (SGS). 

Update from CMBX Science Working GroupRead More »

The Euclid Science Performance Verification 3 meeting, March 2023

Authors: F. Bernardeau, P.-A. Frugier and H. Aussel (SPV3 leads)

From March 20 to March 23, a meeting dedicated to the third Science Performance Verification exercise (SPV3) took place at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, France. Since the online kick-off meeting of the exercise, that took place in Feb. 17 2021, that was the first opportunity for key EC members of the SPV3 project to meet face to face. Unfortunately, in person participation was a bit hampered by the strike movements that affected Paris at that moment, but it was nonetheless a very lively meeting with up to 30 in person participants and about 10 to 20 online.

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Euclid Consortium Galaxy Clustering Science Working Group meeting, Milan, February 2023

Authors: L. Guzzo, W. Percival & Y. Wang (GC-SWG leads)

Introduction & motivation

During the week of February 20-24, a meeting dedicated to the Galaxy Clustering (GC) measurements to be made by Euclid was held at the “Universitá Statale”, in Milan. This was the first in-person meeting focussed on galaxy clustering after 3 years of the pandemic break, and gathered together all units constituting the spectroscopic pipeline of Euclid, from the raw data to the cosmological parameter measurements. Participation was strong, with 90 people attending in person and an average of 20 connected remotely. Having an in-person joint meeting bringing together all steps along the data analysis chain, was a natural extension of the series of online meetings, which are now held every 2 weeks, bringing together managers and key personnel for the GC pipeline. There was much to review and to plan for, following a busy 2022, which included the Mission Key Point (MKP) review, and a focussed meeting on Observational Systematics organised at IFPU in Trieste.

Galaxy Clustering Science Working Group meetingRead More »

Euclid Help Wanted Board

Dida Markovic (lead of the EC information and communication management group), May 2023

Quick link to the board: https://euclid.roe.ac.uk/projects/sgs/wiki/EC_Help_Wanted

Euclid Consortium “Help Wanted” BoardRead More »

A deep and honest view on the Euclid Consortium Information and Communication Management

Dida Markovic (lead of the EC information and communication management group), May 2023

It was 2019 and I had just moved from the UK to the US to take up a position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Working for the US government required me to work on a clean, secure new machine. As far as my work on Euclid went, this meant two things: starting my telecons at 7 am (due to being 9 hours behind on Pacific Time), and finding all the portals and pages again: all new bookmarks, all new logins. I started collecting all the URLs, logins and idiosyncrasies in one document. And as that document grew and grew, I started getting frustrated and vented to my project boss. At the same time, the world got hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and we all worked remotely. Everyone in the EC started relying on our pages and portals even more, in order to keep working together, to keep building Euclid, and preparing for data analysis. Because my project boss happens to sit on the Euclid Consortium Board (ECB), he asked me to prepare a presentation about the Euclid pages and portals for the ECB, because they were now more important than ever for the success and the timely execution of the mission. So I got up at 6 am on the 22nd of April 2020 and talked to the board (EC members can find my original slides on the Redmine).

Euclid Consortium Information and Communication ManagementRead More »

Euclid is launching in a SpaceX Falcon 9

Giuseppe Racca (ESA Project Manager), March 2023

In December 2022, following an intense feasibility study, we kicked off a Launch Service contract with SpaceX. The vehicle that will bring Euclid in a transfer trajectory to the L2 halo orbit is Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral launch pad 39A or SLC-40. 

Description of the Euclid spacecraft launcherRead More »

Updates from the Local Organising Committee of the Euclid Consortium meeting 2023

Bitten Gullberg, on behalf of the LOC

The first Euclid consortium meeting was held in the Black Diamond in Copenhagen in 2012. Now, more than a decade later, the meeting will again be held in the Danish capital from 19th to 23rd June 2023. This time the meeting will be held at CPH Conference, near the main station in the heart of the city. The meeting is organised with the support of ESA. 

Update about the Euclid Consortium meeting 2023Read More »