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| Note |
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This expendable launch
vehicle and payload processing status will be issued
weekly. It will provide the status of upcoming NASA
missions scheduled for launch aboard expendable launch
vehicles. For additional information on NASA ELV
launches, visit: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/elv.htm.
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ICESAT
/ CHIPSAT
|
| Mission |
Ice,
Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite / Cosmic Hot
Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer |
| Launch
Vehicle |
Boeing
Delta II with Reduced Height Dual Payload Attach
Fitting (RH DPAF) |
| Launch
Pad |
SLC-2W,
Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) |
| Launch
Date |
January
11, 2003 NET |
| Launch
Window |
4:45
- 5:30
p.m. PST |
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| |
|
Status
(processing
notes)
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The two-day operation to install the two halves of the payload fairing around the payload atop the rocket begins today and is the final major activity to be performed before launch. The Flight Program Verification, the last major test, was completed on Dec. 5 and verified that the vehicle and the spacecraft are operating in an integrated manner. The ICESat/CHIPSat payload was mated to the Delta II at the launch pad on Dec. 3 and a state of health check of the two satellites was successfully performed.
The Flight Readiness Review is scheduled for Dec. 13. At this time there are no issues or concerns with the Boeing Delta II vehicle or the spacecraft.
On launch day, the gantry-like mobile service tower will be retracted from around the spacecraft at 6:30 a.m. PST. Cryogenic fueling of the rocket will begin at 3 p.m. PST. Launch is on schedule for Thursday, Dec. 19 at 4:45 p.m. PST.
Launch coverage on NASA Television begins at 3 p.m. PST.
|
| Mission |
Solar
Radiation and Climate Experiment |
| Launch
Vehicle |
Pegasus
XL |
| Launch
Pad |
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Launch
Date |
January
25, 2003 |
| Launch
Time |
3:10
p.m. - 4:08
p.m. EST T-0: 3:15 p.m. EST |
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|
Status
(processing
notes)
|
At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the mating of the launch vehicle to the L-1011 aircraft and the Combined Systems Test (CST) was completed on Friday, Dec. 13. The vehicle was ferried to the CCAFS Skid Strip using the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft, Tuesday, Dec. 17. The Pegasus was de-mated from the L-1011 and transported to the Multi-Purpose Payload Facility at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Fairing removal occurred on Thurs., Dec. 19. Three Flight Simulations are planned prior to launch. One involves the Pegasus launch vehicle on Dec. 22, the remaining two flight simulations on Jan. 3 and Jan. 8 involve both the Pegasus and the SORCE spacecraft.
Mating of the spacecraft to the Pegasus is currently scheduled for Jan. 5 and fairing installation activities begin on Jan. 15. The integrated vehicle will be transported to the runway at CCAFS and mated to the L-1011 aircraft on January 22. Also that day, Combined Systems Test #2 is scheduled. This includes the SORCE spacecraft, the Pegasus launch vehicle and the L-1011.
Meanwhile, at KSC in the MPPF, testing and validation continues to be performed on SORCE. A communications test with the Hartebeesthoek tracking station in the Republic of South Africa is scheduled for Fri., Dec. 27.
SORCE is a Principal Investigator-led mission managed by the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). The SORCE project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Orbital Sciences Space Systems Group built the spacecraft and the instruments were built by LASP.
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The Kennedy
Space Center (KSC) Newsroom offers an electronic subscription
service for status reports, news releases and other notices
issued from KSC. There are two possible ways to subscribe.
You may send a blank e-mail message to ksc-news_release-subscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov
or follow the instructions on the Web site at http://kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov.
The system will confirm the request via e-mail.
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