Spacecraft designers usually have to worry about solar storms, micrometeorites and extreme temperatures. Last week the MESSENGER team prepared to protect the spacecraft from an entirely different sort of storm - Hurricane Isabel.

The team was at work several days before Isabel even came ashore, clearing loose items from the roof of the Applied Physics Laboratory's Kershner Space Building; checking the lightning-protection system of pointed wires that cover the roof; testing and fueling the building's emergency generators; and checking drains to make sure rain water wouldn't back up into MESSENGER's clean room. Finally, as then-Tropical Storm Isabel approached Maryland on September 18, the team placed a scrim cloth cover over MESSENGER to protect against potential drips from above and unplugged its connections to outside power sources - just to make sure a lightning surge wouldn't reach the spacecraft's electronics. (Time-lapse movies of that operation are available in large and small versions.) .

Fortunately, the APL facility suffered no storm damage and the "rain coat" was not needed. The MESSENGER team was back to work on the spacecraft by 7 a.m. on September 19.

Last updated: September 24, 2003