Images

Preparing for Vibration Tests #2

Download Hi-Res Image

The twin STEREO observatories are stacked in their launch configuration and placed onto APL's vibration table - a large "shake" table used to check the structural integrity of a spacecraft prior to launch. Vibration tests simulate the ride into space the STEREO observatories will encounter aboard a Delta II launch vehicle that's scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., in 2006.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory