Second day of SPIRE, unlatch the spectrometer mechanism

The Spectrometer mechanism (SMEC) is a moving part, which is used to change the optical path difference (OPD) by scanning back and forth and produce an interferogram of the signal as a function of this OPD. The inverse Fourier transform of the interferogram is the source spectrum.
During the launch the SMEC was latched in order to avoid breaking or damaging the instrument. The unlatching is very critical moment as in space all mechanical movements can be unpredictable, especially after a powerful launch with a rocket.

The snapshot shows the movement of the SMEC after the unlatch procedure has been executed. This is exactly what is expected for a successful unlatch! And there are no traces of any stickiness which was observed during some of the ground based tests.
All data confirm that the SMEC moves in zero gravity.