WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo is inviting the general public to watch the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory later this week and celebrate Canada’s contribution to the study of the birth of planets, stars and galaxies.

Michel Fich, a professor of physics and astronomy at UW, is the Canadian principal investigator of the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared. Also known as HIFI, the instrument is a high-resolution spectrometer designed to capture and split an object’s radiation into its constituent wavelengths, providing information on the object’s chemical nature. Cambridge-based COM DEV International worked with Fich to build a local oscillator source unit, a key sub-system in HIFI, with funding from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

To mark the launch, UW will host a launch countdown, including remarks from the people involved and a live feed from the European Space Agency launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.

Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009
Time: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
Location: Humanities Theatre
J.G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue
Waterloo, Ontario

Please join Professor Fich; Dr. Alain Berinstain, Director of Planetary Exploration and Space Astronomy with the Canadian Space Agency; Mike Pley, Chief Operating Officer at COM DEV; and other officials for the event.