| NASA’s
Aura spacecraft, the latest in the Earth Observing System
(EOS) series, is at the Astrotech payload processing facility
located on North Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Fueling of the spacecraft was completed May 14. The next
major activity is the mating to the payload attach fitting,
the interface with the Delta II, which was scheduled to
occur on May 24. This was delayed until today for resolution
of a configuration problem with the secondary latch system
that secures the spacecraft to the payload attach fitting.
Transportation of the spacecraft to Space Launch Complex
2 for mating to the second stage of the Delta II is scheduled
for June 2.
The build-up of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on
Space Launch Complex 2, located on North VAFB, was completed.
The first stage was stacked April 29 and the second stage
May 1. Work to install the nine solid rocket boosters
was completed May 5. A vehicle control system check was
successfully completed Monday. This procedure qualifies
the first and second stage subsystems through a series
of detailed tests. The first stage liquid oxygen leak
check was completed May 21. It included a simulated countdown
and the loading of liquid oxygen aboard the first stage.
A simulated flight test of the vehicle’s electrical
and mechanical systems was successfully completed Monday.
Aura’s four state-of-the-art instruments will study
the dynamics of chemistry occurring in the atmosphere.
The spacecraft will provide data to help scientists better
understand the Earth’s ozone, air quality and climate
change.
The
EOS Aura satellite, instruments and science investigations
are managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md. Government oversight of launch preparations
and the countdown management on launch day is the responsibility
of the NASA Launch Services Program based at John F. Kennedy
Space Center (KSC). The launch service is provided to
NASA by Boeing Launch Services.
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