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All spacecraft hardware undergoes a series of environmental tests prior to launch. Here, STEREO engineers at APL are preparing the STEREO "A" spacecraft's battery for vibration testing. This type of test will simulate the vibrations a spacecraft will encounter during its ride aboard a launch vehicle.

The "A" observatory will be placed ahead of Earth in its orbit around the sun.

Parts of the spacecraft are tested in the vibration laboratory before they're moved into the clean room facility where the twin observatories are being built.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory