|
KSC Public Affairs Contact:
George Diller (fax 407-867-2692)
E-mail: George.Diller-1@ksc.nasa.gov
Delta/RADARSAT
A decision has been made to reschedule
the launch of RADARSAT to no earlier than Oct. 4 as recommendations of
the Delta/Koreasat failure review board are pending. The launch time
will remain the same at 7:22 a.m. PDT.
With the exception of fueling the
satellite, processing has been completed on RADARSAT, which is in a
spacecraft cleanroom at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Based on this new
date, the spacecraft is scheduled to be mated to the Delta rocket at
Space Launch Complex 2 on Sep. 25. A launch crew certification,
including a full launch countdown dress rehearsal, is being performed
today.
A RADARSAT mission science briefing from
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., will be presented on NASA
Television on Wednesday, Sept. 6 starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
DELTA/XTE
A decision has also been made to
reschedule the launch of XTE to no earlier than Oct. 25 as
recommendations from the Delta/Koreasat review board are pending.
Processing of XTE in Spacecraft Hangar AO
was completed with the mating to the payload attach fitting on Aug. 21.
Other milestones that have been recently achieved include: completion of
a spacecraft performance test; installation of the spacecraft batteries;
a spacecraft launch simulation; and completion of a mission simulation
covering the early hours of flight after separation from the
Delta.
Upcoming milestones include: a partial
tanking of liquid oxygen on the first stage to test for cryogenic leaks
on Sept. 11, a Simulated Flight Test of the vehicle to check the
in-flight functions of the Delta after T-0 on Sept. 12 and 13, and a
pair of launch crew certifications, which includes a launch countdown
and full tanking of the vehicle with liquid oxygen on Sept. 14 and Oct.
16.
XTE will be transported from Hangar AO to
launch pad 17-A on Oct. 10 to be mated to the Delta II rocket. |
