Lifting the top off of the BepiColombo MMO transport container
Date: 21 April 2015
Satellite: BepiColombo
Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Copyright: ESA – Anneke Le Floc'h
Pictured in a cleanroom at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands is the BepiColombo Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) which arrived from Japan in April 2015.
The body of the MMO transport container is being lifted from its base to reveal the spacecraft. The flight model MMO is attached to a special transport frame, which is mechanically dynamically de-coupled from the base of the transport container through damper springs. Packages of desiccant can be seen on the base of the container; these help to control the atmosphere during transport.
BepiColombo is a joint mission by ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), executed under ESA leadership. The MMO is contributed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
