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Sunshade Installation
Neal Bachtell of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL),
Laurel, Md., attaches the middle section of the ceramic-fabric sunshade to the
Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft. At approximately 8 feet tall and 6 feet
wide, the shade, made from the same materials that protect sections of the space
shuttle and International Space Station, will keep MESSENGER's instruments at
room temperature while the spacecraft orbits the planet closest to the sun.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of
Washington
