Herschel is loaded onto an Antonov cargo plane

The Herschel spacecraft, packed in a huge container, is loaded onto the Antonov cargo plane that transported the satellite to Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The plane took off from Amsterdam’s airport (Schiphol), the Netherlands, on 11 February 2009 and arrived to destination in the early hours of 12 February 2009.