R.I.P Herschel

[nephilim]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21934520

[JamesF]

"passivate"?!

James

[Pig]

Such a shame, some great views and many more to come from its database by the sounds of it

[DirkSteele]

A fantastically successful space science mission. It is a shame missions like this have a finite life.

[emadmoussa]

Cool!

[E621Keith]

RIP Herschel

It's a shame they didn't installed a 'warm' detectors on the scope.

If they fitted Herschel with a CCD camera, the mission could be extended beyond the cold phase after its helium runs out.

Herschel's 3.5m mirror should show more than Hubble in near IR and visible light, even if it was optimised for far IR.

At least they will put it in solar orbit rather than smashing it into the moon. May be one day our descendents can retrieve it and put it in a museum.

[SnakeyJ]

Just a little bit too far out for a servicing mission/replen - not that we have anything suitable to make the trip!