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Umbilical Door Assemblies

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A STEREO spacecraft mechanic mounts three umbilical door assemblies onto APL's vibration table. 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.

The umbilical doors will cover the connector where an umbilical cable is mated to each spacecraft. While the spacecraft are sitting on the launch pad awaiting liftoff, a cable provides power to each of the observatories, enabling STEREO engineers to receive data on the health of the spacecraft while they're tucked inside the launch vehicle.

Only two of the umbilical door assemblies will fly; the third will be used as an engineering model. Engineering models stay on the ground and can be used to evaluate and replicate situations that might arise in space.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory