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Getting a Lift
A crane lifts MESSENGER out of
the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center on Feb. 26, after the spacecraft completed five weeks of
rigorous tests that showed it could withstand the wide range of
hot and cold temperatures it will face on its journey to and mission
around Mercury. Four of MESSENGER’s seven science instruments
reside inside the “ring” on the bottom deck of the
spacecraft, which also connects MESSENGER to its launch vehicle.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of
Washington
