NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 31 October 2009

Spacecraft: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Pad: SLC-2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: Dec. 7, 2009
Launch Window: 6:10 – 6:23 a.m. PST

Build-up of the Delta II rocket at Space Launch Complex 2 was completed last week as planned. Testing was conducted this week on the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite transmitter that will be tested on this Delta II for possible use on future missions.

At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, work has been completed to test the spacecraft’s sensors at cryogenic temperatures. Work is now under way to load and then freeze the cryogenic hydrogen. This will be used to supercool the infrared telescope during its six months of observations. This work requires approximately two weeks and will be followed by one final week of spacecraft testing.

Spacecraft: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V-401
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Feb. 3, 2010
Launch Window: 10:53 – 11:53 a.m. EST

A light test of the solar array was conducted Oct. 29. Work to install spacecraft pyrotechnics is under way today. The Atlas rocket first-stage booster arrived by air at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Oct. 26. The Centaur upper stage will arrive next week.

Previous status reports are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html