NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 31 May 2008
Mission: GLAST (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7920-H (United Launch Alliance)
Launch Pad: 17-B
Launch Date: June 5, 2008
Launch Window: 11:45 a.m. – 1:40 p.m. EDT
The launch of NASA’s GLAST spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is being scheduled for Thursday, June 5, instead of no earlier than June 3. The launch window extends from 11:45 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. EDT and remains unchanged through Aug. 7.
The June 5 date is already reserved for the launch of GLAST on the Eastern Range. The decision was made at the conclusion of Thursday’s Flight Readiness Review to give the launch team sufficient time to determine that remaining open engineering issues are resolved.
Loading of the hypergolic propellants into the Delta II second stage is scheduled for Monday, June 2. On launch day, June 5, the mobile service tower will be retracted from around the rocket at 2 a.m. Loading of the liquid oxygen to begin the final phase of the launch countdown will begin at 10 a.m. which will lead to a liftoff targeted for 11:45 a.m. EDT.
Mission: OSTM/Jason-2
Location: Astrotech payload processing facility, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320 (United Launch Alliance)
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Launch Date: June 15, 2008
Launch Window: 1:47 – 1:56 a.m. PDT
At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, the spacecraft has been mated to the Delta II payload attach fitting, and spacecraft closeouts have been completed. On Sunday, June 1, OSTM/Jason-2 will be installed into the payload transportation canister. The following day, June 2, it will be moved to Space Launch Complex 2 to be mated with the Delta II rocket.
The Flight Program Verification, an integrated test of both the Delta II and the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft, will be conducted on June 5. This is the last major test before launch. The payload fairing will be installed around the spacecraft on June 9. The Delta II second stage hypergolic propellants will be loaded into the vehicle on June 12.
Previous status reports are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2008
