WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecrafts two solar arrays are undergoing cleaning inspections and voltage checks in preparation for installation on June 24 -25. One array will be installed each day, followed by a deployment test. The spacecraft will fly past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times before starting a year-long orbital study of Mercury in March 2011. Launch is scheduled for July 30, 2004, from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.