Euclid meets the minister
15 August 2013
![David Willetts, taken by the Euclid detector David Willetts, taken by the Euclid detector](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical-physical-sciences/sites/mathematical_physical_sciences/files/styles/large_image/public/potw1315-bonus-image_7.jpeg?itok=WWXFQb7c)
A bonus picture this week.
Euclid, a European Space Agency mission currently being developed in part by UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory entered a new phase in testing this week.
The array of camera detectors on board will be bigger than any launched into space to date (though by the time it launches, Gaia - another MSSL mission - will just beat it).
The detectors being built by e2v, a company which has close links with MSSL, are now being tested at MSSL's site in Holmbury St Mary.
Universities and Science minister David Willetts dropped by to kick off the testing, and took a picture of himself using one of the detectors.
The completed spacecraft will have 120 of these, producing incredibly detailed images of the sky.
Photo credit: O. Usher (UCL MAPS)
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