Unpacking

The spacecraft was removed safely from its container and showed after careful inspection (excepted the solar array that will be inspected later) that no damages have occurred during the transportation.

Opening of the Transport Container (solar arrays on the bottom side are still protected):


Cryosat-2 and Mechanical Ground Segment Equipment in the clean room:


Cryosat-2 (CS-2) on its General Purpose Adapter. Note the 2 large radar antennas on the left hand side of the Spacecraft. Behind the antenna bench, one can find the redundant instrument (named SIRAL-2) which is an altimeter. It is not visible on the picture but located on the instrument plate. One can see the extremity of this plate on the left hand side (silver color). The instrument is partly covered with Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) foil for thermal protection purposes and also by Solar Arrays that give CS-2 this particular shape of dog house.