Spacecraft and Expendable Vehicles Status Report – November 27, 2002
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468
MISSION: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-J (TDRS-J)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA (AC-144)
LAUNCH SITE: Pad 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: December 4, 2002
LAUNCH WINDOW: 9:42 p.m. – 10:22 p.m. EST
In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2
(SAEF-2) the TDRS-J spacecraft was mated to the payload adapter on Nov.
20 and encapsulated into the payload fairing on Nov. 21. TDRS-J was
transported to Complex 36 in the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 25 and
hoisted atop the Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA launch vehicle on Pad A.
The final major test was completed on Nov. 26, the
Composite Electrical Readiness Test (CERT). This test verifies that the
vehicle and spacecraft are operating in an integrated manner.
The NASA Flight Readiness Review for AC-144/TDRS-J was
successfully completed on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
On launch day, Dec. 4, the countdown will begin at 12:52
p.m. The mobile service tower, or gantry, will be removed from around
the Atlas IIA launch vehicle at 6:29 p.m. Cryogenic tanking
operations for the Atlas and Centaur stages will begin at 7:56 p.m. Launch
is scheduled at 9:42 p.m. at the opening of a 40-minute launch window
that closes at 10:22 p.m.
MISSION: Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESAT) and the
Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPSAT)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Boeing Delta II with Reduced Height Dual Payload
Attach Fitting (DPAF)
LAUNCH SITE: SLC-2W Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB)
LAUNCH DATE: December 19, 2002
LAUNCH WINDOW: 4:45 – 5:30:00 p.m. PST
At the Astrotech Space Operations Payload Processing
Facility, the fueling of the ICESAT spacecraft was completed on Nov. 18.
The satellite was mated to its Payload Attach Fitting on Nov. 20.
ICESAT and the upper Payload Attach Fitting were also mated to the cone
of the Dual Payload Attach Fitting (DPAF) on Nov. 22. The ICESAT
spacecraft will be transported to the launch pad early next week.
Also at Astrotech, CHIPSAT spacecraft has completed all
functional testing and is also ready for its transport to the launch pad
next week. The Payload Adapter Assembly and Payload Adapter Fitting
were installed onto the spacecraft Nov. 8. CHIPSAT mating to the
Reduced-Height Dual Payload Attach Fitting (RH DPAF) was completed on
November 12 and mating of the upper cone/cylinder to the lower cone of
the RH DPAF was completed the following day.
Meanwhile, at Space Launch Complex 2, the Simulated
Flight (Sim Flight) that is a flight test of the Delta II electrical and
mechanical systems was successfully completed on Nov 18. Boeing is
currently installing special instrumentation on the RH DPAF and making
final preparations for the arrival of the payload on Dec. 3. The
single remaining test is the Flight Program Verification on Dec. 5 to
verify that the vehicle and spacecraft are operating in an integrated
manner. The two fairing halves are scheduled for installation around
the vehicle on Dec. 11-12.
There are no issues or concerns with the Boeing Delta II
vehicle and the launch is on schedule for Thursday, Dec. 19 at 4:45
p.m. PST.
MISSION: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Pegasus XL
LAUNCH LOCATION: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: January 25, 2003
LAUNCH WINDOW: 3:10 p.m. – 4:08 p.m. EST T-0: 3:15 P.M. EST.
On the Pegasus launch vehicle, the three stages of the
vehicle have been de-mated. The electrical boxes containing the
fasteners associated with the fin actuators and the thrust vector control
system were removed and returned to the vendor. The fasteners were
re-torqued and have successfully passed vibration and environmental
testing. The fasteners were returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base from
Orbital Sciences and were reinstalled on the vehicle. The stages are to
be re-mated next week and will be followed by a set of flight
simulations.
The Combined Systems Test (CST) is currently scheduled to
occur on December 15. The ferry to KSC using the Orbital Sciences
L-1011 aircraft is anticipated for the third week of December, expected
to occur on or about Dec. 17. Three Flight Simulation tests are also
planned at KSC prior to launch.
Processing of SORCE, built by the Orbital Sciences Space
Systems Group, has been going well since its arrival at the Kennedy
Space Center on Oct. 26 in the Multi-purpose Payload Processing Facility
(MPPF). Due to launch delay, only minor work has been conducted over
the past week but will resume on a limited basis next week. There
are no spacecraft issues or concerns.
The SORCE project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center. The instruments on the SORCE spacecraft are built by the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
