NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 27 March 2009
Mission: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-O)
Launch Vehicle: Delta IV
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: No earlier than April 28, 2009
Launch Window: 6:24 – 7:24 p.m. EDT
The spacecraft was placed on a special stand on March 22 for propellant functional testing and fueling preparations. A second check with the Delta IV payload attach fitting is planned for March 28. The loading of hydrazine currently is scheduled for March 30. Mating GOES-O to the Delta IV payload attach fitting for flight is planned for April 3 and will be followed by encapsulation into the fairing on April 6. The move to Launch Complex 37 for mating to the Delta IV is scheduled for April 14.
At Launch Complex 37, checkout of the Delta IV and associated prelaunch preparations are on schedule. A simulated flight test exercising the launch vehicle systems as they will function during launch is under way today. The “wet dress rehearsal,” a countdown dress rehearsal with the rocket fully fueled, is planned for April 8.
NASA has contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-O spacecraft. The NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy is supporting the launch in an advisory role. NASA spacecraft project management for GOES-O is the responsibility of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. After launch, once Boeing and NASA have completed checkouts in orbit and the spacecraft is operational, it will be turned over to NOAA.
Mission: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LRO/LCROSS)
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: May 21, 2009
Launch Window: 5:32 – 6:32 p.m. EDT
This week LRO performed an integrated launch simulation. Thermal blanket installation on the spacecraft continues.
The Atlas V is planned to be moved from the hangar at the Atlas Space Operations Center to the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 on or about April 10.
Previous status reports are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html
