Prototype solar panel development and testing for a Mercury orbiter spacecraft

A Mercury orbiting spacecraft imposes many design challenges in the area of spacecraft thermal control and electrical power generation. The discovery mission MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space, Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging), being designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), will orbit and survey the planet Mercury for one year. In order to reduce cost and schedule risk while increasing the probability for mission success, the MESSENGER solar arrays will be constructed from conventional "off the shelf" materials and technologies.