Where In The Universe #69

Here’s this week’s image for the WITU Challenge, to test your visual knowledge of the cosmos, and I swear, this one is space related. But you know what to do: take a look at this image and see if you can determine where in the universe this image is from; give yourself extra points if you can name any spacecraft involved in this image. We’ll provide the image today, but won’t reveal the answer until tomorrow. This gives you a chance to mull over the image and provide your answer/guess in the comment section. Please, no links or extensive explanations of what you think this is — give everyone the chance to guess.

UPDATE: The answer has been posted below.

Well, I have to say my favorite answer this week was from MageAshke who suggested this might be the Heart of Gold using its Infinite Improbability Drive. However that answer is incorrect. This is actually the interior of an anechoic chamber that was used to measure radiation patterns and performance of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s high gain antenna. An anechoic chamber is a shielded room designed to attenuate sound or electromagnetic energy. You can read about NASA’s anechoic testing facilities here, and see more pictures from LRO about the different tests for the spacecraft here.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s unusual WITU Challenge! If so, check back next week for another test of your visual knowledge of the cosmos!