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Aqua Placed In Thermal Vacuum Chamber

The first of two Earth Observing System spacecraft Northrop Grumman is building for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Aqua, is shown being lowered into a thermal vacuum chamber for testing at Northrop Grumman's Space Park facility. During thermal vacuum testing, the spacecraft's hardware and software systems are exposed to alternate cycles of extreme heat and extreme cold simulating the harsh environment of space. Thermal vacuum is the last major phase of a rigorous environmental test program a spacecraft must pass prior to deliver. Aqua is a space-based element of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term coordinated program to study the Earth as a single, global environment.