Super-cool Planck mission begins to warm (BBC)
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News
The Planck telescope, put in space to map the oldest light in the Universe, has run out of the helium coolant that keeps it in full working order.
Engineers expect the observatory's systems to start to warm from their ultra-frigid state in the coming days, blinding one of its two instruments.
Nonetheless, Planck has gathered more than enough data since its launch in 2009 to complete its mission goals.
"We have had a flood of data - much more data than originally anticipated, and now we are in the frantic phase," revealed Jan Tauber, the European Space Agency's (Esa) Planck project scientist.
"In a year's time we have promised to deliver our maps and scientific papers, so we are feeling some pressure," he told BBC News.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12065464