BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter being lowered onto the M80/MPMA test system
Date: 10 May 2012
Satellite: BepiColombo
Depicts: Mercury Planetary Orbiter being lowered onto the M80/MPMA test system
Location: Hydra cleanroom, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), the Netherlands
Copyright: ESA
BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) being lowered onto the M80 test system, which is fitted with its Mass Properties Measurement Adapter (MPMA). The M80/MPMA is located adjacent to the WM50/6 used for the preceding tests, in the 'Hydra' cleanroom at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
The M80/MPMA was used to determine the position of the spacecraft centre of gravity along its longitudinal (vertical, in this configuration) axis, and its moments of inertia and products of inertia about three axes.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
