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KSC Public Affairs Contact:
George Diller (fax 407-867-2692)
E-mail: George.Diller-1@ksc.nasa.gov
GOES-J/ATLAS CENTAUR 77 REACH MILESTONES
TOWARD LAUNCH
The GOES-J weather satellite to be
launched later this month aboard an Atlas I rocket will reach a
milestone overnight tonight when it will be moved from the Astrotech
payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. to Pad B at Launch
Complex 36. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. the satellite is scheduled to
be hoisted into the Pad 36-B gantry and mated to the AC-77 rocket.
The Atlas I launch vehicle itself passed
a milestone on May 3 when a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) was successfully
run. The WDR verifies the launch readiness of the vehicle, the launch
support equipment at the pad and in the blockhouse, the countdown
procedure, and the launch countdown operations of the Eastern Range.
During this countdown test liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and RP-1
propellants are aboard the vehicle, verifying the structural integrity
of the Atlas first stage and Centaur upper stage tanks.
The last major prelaunch milestone before
actual countdown activities begin is the Combined Electrical Readiness
Test, an integrated test between the GOES-J satellite and the AC-77
vehicle currently scheduled for May 9.
GOES-J is the second spacecraft to be
launched in the new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The
spacecraft has the dual capability of providing pictures while
performing atmospheric sounding at the same time.
The launch is scheduled for Friday, May
19 at the opening of a launch window which extends from 1:42 a.m. to
2:55 a.m. EDT.
The GOES-J satellite is built by Space
Systems/LORAL of Palo Alto, Calif. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for the GOES project management. The
Kennedy Space Center is responsible for government oversight of the
launch vehicle processing activities, integration of the GOES-J
spacecraft with the launch vehicle and launch countdown activities.
NASA’s Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Oh., is responsible for the
NASA launch services management role. Lockheed Martin Astronautics of
Denver, Co., is under contract to Lewis Research Center to provide the
Atlas I vehicle and associated launch services. |
