SPACECRAFT AND EXPENDABLE VEHICLES STATUS REPORT
February 5, 2003
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468
MISSION: Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Pegasus XL
LAUNCH PAD: Skid Strip, Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: March 25, 2003 (T)
LAUNCH WINDOW: 6:50 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. EST (T-0 6:55 a.m.)
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Orbital Sciences
Pegasus launch vehicle completed the second scheduled flight simulation (2b)
on Sunday, Feb. 2. All data from the test was nominal. The launch vehicle
Combined Systems Test (CST) is scheduled for February 14. The Pegasus
launch vehicle is currently planned for ferry to Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station on the L-1011 aircraft on Feb. 18.
GALEX, built for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by the Orbital
Sciences Space Systems Group, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday,
Feb. 2 and is preparing for prelaunch testing at the Multipurpose Payload
Processing Facility (MPPF) located in the KSC Industrial Area. The
spacecraft and test equipment is being unpacked, charging of batteries and
test equipment will follow.
The GALEX program management is by NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center and is part of Goddard's Small Explorer (SMEX) program. Spacecraft
project management is the responsibility of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
and the California Institute of Technology is the lead for mission science.
MISSION: Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II
LAUNCH PAD: Pad 17-A
LAUNCH DATE: March 29, 2003
LAUNCH WINDOW: TBD
The Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System - called ProSEDS -
is a tether-based propulsion experiment that draws power from the space
environment around Earth, allowing the transfer of energy from the Earth to
the spacecraft.
Inexpensive and reusable, ProSeds technology has the potential to
turn orbiting, in-space tethers into "space tugboats" - replacing heavy,
costly, traditional chemical propulsion and enabling a variety of
space-based missions, such as the fuel-free raising and lowering of
satellite orbits.
The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-A is
currently scheduled to begin Feb. 13. Erection of the nine solid rocket
boosters is scheduled for Feb. 14-18. The second stage is planned for
hoisting atop the first stage on Feb. 19.
ProSEDS personnel are installing data and electrical harnesses on
the Delta second stage this week. The flight hardware is planned to arrive
at KSC Feb. 27.
ProSEDS is flying as a secondary payload beneath a U.S. Air Force
Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite. Once the spacecraft arrives, it
will be processed at the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) located in the
KSC Industrial Area. March 17, ProSeds will be attached to the Delta at the
launch pad near the top of the second stage and will be followed by
electrical connections and a spacecraft functional test.
MISSION: Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II Heavy
LAUNCH PAD: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: April 15, 2003
LAUNCH TIME: 4:34:07 a.m. EDT
The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will obtain images
and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects
in space between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth
of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's
atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground.
Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically
cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared
telescopes to be launched. Its highly sensitive instruments will give us a
unique view of the Universe and allow us to peer into regions of space that
are hidden from optical telescopes on the ground or such as the Hubble Space
Telescope. Many areas of space are filled with vast, dense clouds of gas
and dust that block our view. Infrared light can penetrate these clouds,
allowing us to peer into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies,
and into newly forming planetary systems. Infrared also brings us
information about the cooler objects in space, such as smaller stars that
are too dim to be detected by their visible light, extra solar planets, and
giant molecular clouds. Also, many molecules in space, including organic
molecules, have their unique signatures in the infrared.
The SIRTF spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space
Center March 6. The review to determine the readiness to erect the launch
vehicle is scheduled to occur Feb. 13. The SIRTF spacecraft is scheduled to
arrive at Kennedy Space Center March 6.
The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-B is
currently scheduled to begin on Feb. 24. Erection of the nine solid rocket
boosters is scheduled for Feb. 25-27. The second stage is planned for
hoisting atop the first stage on March 3.
MISSION: Mars Exploration Rovers (MER-1/MER-2)
LAUNCH VEHICLES: Delta II/Delta II Heavy
LAUNCH PADS: 17-A/17-B
LAUNCH DATES: May 30/June 25
LAUNCH TIMES: 2:28 p.m./12:34 a.m.
The cruise stage, aeroshell and lander for the MER-2 mission
arrived at the KSC Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at 4 p.m. on
Monday, Jan. 27. The lander was unpacked, cleaned and placed in the high
bay on Tuesday. The aeroshell and cruise stage were removed from the
shipping container today. The identical MER-1 flight hardware will arrive
in mid-February. The first of the two Mars Exploration rovers will arrive
at KSC in late February and early March.
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