George Diller                                                                                                                  July 7, 2004
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

KSC Release No. P07-04

Messenger Spacecraft Opens Its Sun Catchers

At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., NASA Mission Integration Manager Cheryle Mako and NASA Launch Site Integration Manager John Hueckel talk after the deployment of the solar array panels on the MESSENGER spacecraft behind them. Mako serves as the primary NASA interface between Boeing's launch team and Delta II vehicle and the Applied Physics Lab's MESSENGER and its spacecraft test team. Hueckel is NASA's primary planning and support interface with the MESSENGER test team, assuring that all necessary ground support equipment is ready and available for them to perform their job. The solar arrays will provide MESSENGER's power on its journey to Mercury. MESSENGER is scheduled to launch Aug. 2 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. It will return to Earth for a gravity boost in July 2005, and then fly past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007.

KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1364

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