NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 30 March 2007

Mission: AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere)
Launch Pad: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL (Orbital Sciences)
Launch Date: April 25, 2007
Launch Time: 1:26:49 p.m. PDT

NASA’s AIM spacecraft processing continues to go well and is on schedule. Technicians have completed cleaning and calibrating the instruments and installed the spacecraft separation system. AIM has been electrically connected to the Pegasus for integrated testing and a flight simulation. Actual mating of the spacecraft to the rocket is planned to begin on or about April 3.

Flight simulation No. 3 is under way with the vehicle and spacecraft electrically connected. Another flight simulation will be conducted during the second week of April, after AIM is mechanically mated and electrically integrated onto the Pegasus rocket. The fairing will then be installed around the AIM spacecraft.

Previous status reports are available on the Web at:

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