Plato, per transiti planetari e attività sismica stellare, è una missione europea dell’agenzia spaziale (ESA) con 26 telecamere per studiare esopianeti terrestri in orbite fino alla zona abitabile di stelle simili al Sole. I suoi obiettivi soono misurare le dimensioni degli esopianeti, scoprire esolune ed eventuali sistemi di anelli, caratterizzare le stelle ospiti.
These so-called ‘vibration tests’, are arranged in three parts. In this clip, we see the phase when the spacecraft, mounted on a ‘quad’ shaker, is jolted up and down (Z axis). In the other two stages, on top a ‘lateral’ shaker, the spacecraft is jiggled back and forth sideways in two perpendicular directions (X and Y axes).
Each test run lasts one minute, during which the frequency of the oscillations is gradually increased from 5 to 100 oscillations per second (hertz). At the higher frequencies we can no longer perceive the movement, but we hear the spacecraft’s internal rumbling caused by the fast shaking. The sound comes in waves, becoming louder when the shaker hits resonance frequencies and makes the spacecraft vibrate more intensely.