14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the American space agency are proud to announce that the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2 spacecraft has successfully completed its integration tests. These assessments were meant to check the probe's instruments and electrical connections against the hard conditions of space.
The image above shows OCO-2 being inserted inside a thermal vacuum chamber, which is capable of simulating the harsh and cold environment that the spacecraft will encounter in Earth's atmosphere. This test is the next on NASA's checklist, and it is being performed in Gilbert, Arizona.
This is where Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation built its Satellite Manufacturing Facility, a state-of-the-art installation capable of conducting most of the investigations necessary before launching a new spacecraft. OCO-2 is being developed to keep an eye on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
The spacecraft replaces the first OCO, which was lost during an error at launch, in February 2009. The new mission, a carbon-copy of the first, will launch in mid-2014, aboard an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II medium-lift delivery system. The probe carries a single instrument, the most sensitive CO2 detector ever sent to space.