|
| |
Swift |
| Mission |
Swift |
| Launch
Vehicle |
Delta
II |
| Launch
Pad |
17-A
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida |
| Launch
Date |
November 20, 2004
|
| Launch
Window |
12:10
p.m. - 1:10
p.m. EST |
|
|
Status (processing
notes) |
NASA
has set the launch of the Swift spacecraft for no earlier
than Saturday, Nov. 20. The one-hour launch window opens
at 12:10 p.m. EST.
Mission managers met this
afternoon to confirm the work necessary for a Saturday
launch attempt is on schedule. Since the team was not
able to repeat the anomalous condition that was seen
earlier on the Command Receiver Decoder system, the suspect
components are being replaced. The system will be retested
Friday, Nov. 19.
Retraction of the mobile service tower, the gantry surrounding
the Delta II, is scheduled to occur at 3 a.m. on Saturday.
Loading of RP-1, a highly refined kerosene fuel, aboard
the first stage, is scheduled to begin at approximately
9:40 a.m. on Saturday. Loading of the cryogenic liquid
oxygen into the first stage will begin approximately
one hour later.
Swift is a medium-class Explorer mission managed by
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The observatory was built for NASA by Spectrum Astro,
a division of General Dynamics. The Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is responsible for Swift's integration with
the Boeing Delta II rocket and the countdown management
on launch day.
|
Deep
Impact |
| Mission |
Deep Impact |
| Launch Vehicle |
Delta
II |
| Launch
Site |
SLC
17-B Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Launch
Date |
No
earlier than January 8, 2005 |
| Launch Time |
2:39:50 p.m. (EST) |
|
|
Status (processing
notes) |
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft arrived in Florida on Oct. 23
to begin final preparations for launch on Dec. 30. The
spacecraft was shipped from Ball Aerospace & Technologies
in Boulder, Colo., to the Astrotech Space Operations
facility located near the Kennedy Space Center.
Deep Impact was removed from its shipping
container and is undergoing its Functional and Mission
Readiness testing, scheduled for completion on Nov.
23. These tests involve the entire spacecraft flight
system (including the flyby and impactor, associated
science instruments and the spacecraft's basic subsystems),
along with loading updated flight software.
The
high gain antenna used for spacecraft communications
will be installed on Nov. 29. The solar array will then
be stowed and an illumination test performed as a final
check of its performance on Nov. 30. Deep Impact will
then be ready to begin preparation for fueling on Dec.
6 and is scheduled to be completed on Dec. 9.
The
stacking of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad
17-B will begin on Nov. 22 with
the hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.
Hoisting of the nine strap-on solid rocket boosters,
in sets of three, is scheduled for Nov. 23, Nov. 29,
and Dec. 1. The second stage will be hoisted into position
atop the first stage on Dec. 3.
The overall Deep Impact mission management
for this Discovery class program is conducted by the
University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Deep Impact
project management is handled by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The spacecraft has been
built for NASA by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. |
DART |
| Mission |
Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART )
|
| Launch Vehicle |
Pegasus
XL |
| Launch
Site |
Vandenberg
Air Force Base, Calif. |
| Launch
Date |
No
earlier than January 22, 2005
|
|
|
Status (processing
notes) |
The launch of NASA's
DART spacecraft aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus
XL, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 9, has been postponed
indefinitely.
A review of projected loads data, or
the G-forces that the DART payload will experience
upon ignition of the Pegasus second stage, are being
re-evaluated to assure mission success.
The
Pegasus rocket is being demated today, Nov. 10, from
the L-1011 carrier aircraft and returned to its hangar
for the present time. A
new launch date will be determined once the loads analysis
concern has been resolved.
DART was designed and built for NASA
by Orbital Sciences Corporation as an advanced flight
demonstrator to locate and maneuver near an orbiting
satellite. The DART spacecraft weighs about 800 pounds
and is nearly 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter. The
Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL vehicle will launch DART
into a circular polar orbit of approximately 475 miles.
The DART satellite provides a key step
in establishing autonomous rendezvous capabilities
for the U.S. Space Program. While previous rendezvous
and docking efforts have been piloted by astronauts,
the unmanned DART satellite will have computers and
cameras to perform its rendezvous functions.
Once in orbit, DART will make contact
with a target satellite, the Multiple Paths, Beyond-Line-of-Sight
Communications (MUBLCOM), also built by Orbital Sciences
and launched in 1999. DART will then perform several
close-proximity operations, such as moving toward and
away from the satellite using navigation data provided
by on-board sensors. The entire mission will last only
24 hours and will be accomplished without human intervention.
The DART flight computer will determine its own path
to accomplish its mission objectives.
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