MGS Arrives at the Cape!

Today, August 13th, the spacecraft arrived at the Cape in the C-17. The spacecraft manager George Pace reported:

"The C-17 landed at the skid strip at 3:25 AM EDT. The trucks were loaded and the convoy was underway by 5:45 AM to beat the morning travel curfew of 6:00 AM. The convoy arrived at PHSF (Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility ) at 6:15 AM. The spacecraft shipping container and MGSE were moved into the airlock. After stabilization and cleaning the container was rolled into the high bay where the spacecraft was removed and mounted on the test dolly.

The pictures below were taken by the JSC Public Affairs Office, where large (300-500k) JPEGs may be obtained. Click on the small pictures below to view a 28-44k byte full-color JPEG image.

The spacecraft in its shipping container is off-loaded from the C-17. (30k JPEG)

Engineers carefully lower the spacecraft on to its test stand. The radome over the high gain antenna is to protect it from the aerobraking environment. (36k JPEG)

Being unloaded at the PHSF. (28k JPEG)

Further preparations - the red boxes at each bottom corner are protective covers on the thrusters. (34k JPEG)

The nadir panel is visible in this view from above. Excellent shot of the instruments. (44k JPEG - P47927Bc)

Almost on the test stand. The next step will be to run a series of tests to ensure the spacecraft is operating properly. (34k JPEG - P47926Ac)