NASA MESSENGER Mission News April 23, 2004

Undercover Operations

Watch the Webcam these days and things might look a bit slow around
MESSENGER — but the spacecraft’s insides are hard at work! Most of
the activity takes place in the MESSENGER Mission Operations Center
at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, where for the
next several weeks the team is running autonomy tests and mission
simulations on the actual spacecraft. The autonomy tests verify
MESSENGER’s ability to operate on its own when not in contact with
Earth. The mission simulations put MESSENGER (and its operators)
through key activities such as the launch sequence, orbit maneuvers,
even responses to potential anomalies. The APL team in Maryland
stays connected to MESSENGER in Florida through a NASA computer
network.

In this week’s annotated Webcam image, two MESSENGER team members
inspect wiring under the spacecraft’s thermal blankets on April 9.
Most of the "hands on" activity has slowed down during the
simulations and autonomy tests, but will pick up later this spring
when engineers re-install the sunshade, thermal blankets and solar
panels; load fuel into MESSENGER’s tanks and conduct spin-balance
tests; and attach the spacecraft to the upper stage of its Delta II
launch vehicle.