May 31, 1995

KSC Release No. 47-95

XTE SATELLITE ARRIVES AT KSC TO BEGIN LAUNCH PREPARATIONS

	NASA’s X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE) to be launched aboard a
Delta II rocket late this summer arrived today at the Skid Strip on
Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard a C-5 military transport jet.  The
spacecraft was shipped from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md.

	The purpose of the XTE satellite is to gather data with its
three instruments about X-ray emitting objects within our Milky Way
Galaxy and beyond.  The spacecraft will provide information on the
nature, energy source and evolution of X-ray sources such as white
dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.

	The 6,700-pound XTE is being transported today to NASA
Spacecraft Checkout Hangar AO on Cape Canaveral Air Station to begin
approximately two months of activities.  This will include completion
of payload element integration, functional tests, spacecraft
cleaning, installation of pyrotechnics and activation of the
spacecraft batteries.  In mid-August XTE will be transported to Pad A
at Complex 17 for mating to the Delta II rocket.

	Delta/XTE is currently scheduled for launch on Aug. 31,
however, due to launch vehicle availability this date is under
review.