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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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GALEX
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| Mission |
Galaxy
Evolution Explorer |
| Launch Vehicle |
Pegasus
XL |
| Launch Location |
Skid Strip, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Launch Date |
March
25, 2003 |
| Launch Window |
6:50
- 8:50
a.m. EST (Drop time 7:00 a.m.) |
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| |
|
Status
(processing
notes)
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The Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft with the Pegasus launch vehicle arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. at 4:21 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. It is being demated from the L-1011 today and transported to the Multipurpose Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at Kennedy Space Center early this evening.
Last week at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Pegasus was mated to the L-1011 on Friday, Feb. 14 and was followed by a fully successful Combined Systems Test.
GALEX, built for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by the Orbital Sciences Space Systems Group, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, Feb. 2 and is undergoing prelaunch testing at the MPPF located in the KSC Industrial Area. The spacecraft completed a solar array lighting test on Feb. 12, and a deployment test of the arrays was completed on Feb. 13. The spacecraft functional test and battery reconditioning is scheduled this week.
The GALEX program management is by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and is part of Goddard's Small Explorer (SMEX) program. Spacecraft project management is the responsibility of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the California Institute of Technology is the lead for mission science. |
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ProSEDS
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| Mission |
Propulsive
Small Expendable Deployer System |
| Launch Vehicle |
Delta II |
| Launch Pad |
Space
Launch Complex 17, Pad A |
| Launch Date |
March 29, 2003 |
| Launch
Period |
5:02
- 5:17
p.m. EST |
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| |
|
Status
(processing
notes)
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The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-A was scheduled to begin Feb. 13. Erection of the nine solid rocket boosters was scheduled for Feb. 14-18. The second stage is planned for hoisting atop the first stage on Feb. 19. ProSEDS is flying as a secondary payload on the Delta II beneath a U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.
Once the spacecraft arrives on Feb. 27, it will be processed in the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) located in the KSC Industrial Area. On March 17, ProSEDS will be transported to the launch pad and attached to the Delta II near the top of the second stage. This will be followed by electrical connections and a spacecraft functional test.
The Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System - called ProSEDS - is a tether-based propulsion experiment that draws power from the space environment around Earth, allowing the transfer of energy from the Earth to the spacecraft.
Inexpensive and reusable, ProSEDS technology has the potential to turn orbiting, in-space tethers into "space tugboats" - replacing heavy, costly, traditional chemical propulsion and enabling a variety of space-based missions, such as the fuel-free raising and lowering of satellite orbits. |
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SIRTF
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| Mission |
Space
Infrared Telescope Facility |
| Launch Vehicles |
Delta II Heavy |
| Launch Pads |
17-B,
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Launch Dates |
April
15, 2003 |
| Launch Times |
4:34:07
a.m. EDT |
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| |
|
Status
(processing
notes)
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The SIRTF spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Center March 6. It will be shipped from the Lockheed Martin plant at Sunnyvale, Calif.
The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-B is scheduled to begin on Feb. 24. Erection of the nine solid rocket boosters is scheduled to follow Feb. 25-Mar. 3. The second stage is planned for hoisting atop the first stage on March 5.
The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground.
Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. Its highly sensitive instruments will give us a unique view of the Universe and allow us to peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes on the ground or orbiting telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope. Many areas of space are filled with vast, dense clouds of gas and dust that block our view. Infrared light can penetrate these clouds, allowing us to peer into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies, and into newly forming planetary systems. Infrared also brings us information about the cooler objects in space, such as smaller stars that are too dim to be detected by their visible light, extra solar planets, and giant molecular clouds. Also, many molecules in space, including organic molecules, have their unique signatures in the infrared. |
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MER-1/
MER-2
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| Mission |
Mars
Exploration Rovers |
| Launch Vehicles |
Delta II/Delta II Heavy |
| Launch Pads |
17-A/17-B |
| Launch Dates |
May
30/June 25 |
| Launch Times |
2:28 p.m.
/ 12:34
p.m. EDT |
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| |
|
Status
(processing
notes)
|
| The cruise stage, aeroshell and lander for the MER-2 mission arrived at the KSC Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on Monday, Jan. 27. The identical flight hardware for MER-1 and the first of the two Mars Exploration rovers will arrive at KSC on Monday, Feb. 24. The second rover will arrive the second week of March. |
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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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