John F. Kennedy Space Center - Expendable Launch Vehicle and Payload Processing Status Reports

February 6, 2002

Note

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.

HESSI

Mission	High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
Launch Vehicle	Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL
Current Location	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Date	Feb. 5, 2002

Status

Attached to an L-1011 aircraft, NASA's High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) mounted atop an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket, departed from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 2:29 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The rocket was successfully launched at an altitude of 39,000 feet 75 miles offshore over the Atlantic Ocean at 3:58 p.m. and separated from the Pegasus nine minutes and forty two seconds later. The spacecraft was acquired at 5:33 p.m. EST by the 36-foot tracking antenna at the University of California at Berkley. The spacecraft is in a circular orbit of 373 miles and is in good health.

TDRS-I

Mission	Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I
Launch Vehicle	Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA (AC-143)
Launch Pad	Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Date	March 8, 2002
Launch Window	5:39 - 6:19 p.m. EST

Status

The TDRS-I spacecraft arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility aboard an Air Force C-17 air cargo plane on Monday, Feb. 4 at 7:38 a.m. EST. The satellite was shipped from the Boeing Satellite Systems plant in El Segundo, Calif. It was taken to the SAEF-2 spacecraft processing facility at KSC for three weeks of final checkout, fueling and encapsulation into the Atlas payload fairing. The fueling activities are scheduled to begin on Feb. 13.

At Pad A on Space Launch Complex 36, limited Atlas vehicle processing activity is scheduled this week and the vehicle is awaiting the arrival of the spacecraft on or about Feb. 25.

AQUA EOS-PM

Mission	Earth Observing System Aqua Observatory
Launch Vehicle	Delta II 7920-10L
Launch Pad	Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Launch Date	April 18, 2002
Launch Window	1:54:50 - 2:04:50 p.m. PDT

Status

Aqua spacecraft testing is continuing at the TRW plant in Redondo Beach, Calif. At this time, the spacecraft is expected to be shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base on Feb. 25.

The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on the pad at Space Launch Complex 2 is now also planned to begin on Feb. 25. The Boeing and NASA review to assess readiness of the vehicle and the launch pad for that activity is scheduled for Feb. 19 in Huntington Beach, Calif.

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