NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 7 August 2009
Mission: Space Tracking and Surveillance System – Demonstrators
Program (STSS-Demo)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7920-10
Launch Pad: Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Sept. 15, 2009
Launch Window: 8 – 9 p.m. EDT
At Pad 17-B, no significant work is being undertaken while the launch team works on the Air Force Delta II on adjacent Pad 17-A. The vehicle will loft into orbit the final Air Force Global Positioning System navigation satellite in the current GPS IIR series on Aug. 17.
Spacecraft: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V-401
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Dec. 4, 2009
This week, the Ka-band RF downlink checkouts were successfully completed. The instrument module was cleaned, and a visual inspection for the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment was performed.
The SDO full observatory comprehensive performance test will begin on Aug. 10. This will fully test all of the spacecraft science instruments and will be their last major evaluation before launch. It is targeted to conclude on Aug. 14.
Spacecraft: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Pad: SLC-2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: Dec. 10, 2009 (tentative)
Ground support equipment for the WISE spacecraft will arrive at Vandenberg on Monday, Aug. 10. It will go to the Astrotech payload processing facility located on north Vandenberg. WISE is scheduled to arrive on Aug. 15 to begin processing for launch.
WISE will survey the entire sky in the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission ever has. The WISE survey will capture over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe.
Previous status reports are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html
