NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 2 February 2007

Mission: THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms)
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Vehicle: Boeing/United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Date: Feb. 15, 2007
Launch Time: 6:08 – 6:27 p.m. EST

At the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center, transportation of THEMIS to Pad 17-B was rescheduled from today until early Saturday morning. This was due to high wind and rain associated with an advancing cold front. This will not affect the Feb. 15 launch date. THEMIS will be mated to the Delta II rocket and state-of-health checks will be performed. Earlier this week, engineers and technicians mated THEMIS to the upper stage booster as planned on Monday.

At Launch Complex 17 on Monday, a “LOX leak check” was performed by loading liquid oxygen aboard the Delta II first stage during a simulated countdown. The next day, a Simulated Flight Test was performed, activating the vehicle’s post-liftoff flight systems without fuel aboard. The electrical and mechanical systems of the entire Delta II were exercised during that test. Once the THEMIS payload is attached to the third stage of the launch vehicle, a final major test, the Flight Program Verification will be conducted on Feb. 6. This is an integrated test of the Delta II and THEMIS working together. This test will simulate all events as they will occur on launch day, but without propellants aboard the launch vehicle.

Previous status reports are available on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2007