NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report 6 June 2008
Mission: GLAST (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7920-H (United Launch Alliance)
Launch Pad: 17-B
Launch Date: No earlier than June 11, 2008
Launch Window: 11:45 a.m. – 1:40 p.m. EDT
NASA is targeting no earlier than June 11 for the launch of the GLAST spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. The launch window extends from 11:45 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. EDT and remains unchanged through Aug. 7.
The additional time is necessary to allow for replacement of the rocket’s Flight Termination System battery which displayed indications of a problem Wednesday.
Loading of the hypergolic propellants into the Delta II second stage is planned for this weekend. On launch day, June 11, the mobile service tower will be retracted from around the rocket at 2 a.m. The terminal countdown sequence will begin at 9:15 a.m. by loading the first stage with RP-1 fuel, a highly refined kerosene. This will be followed at 10:15 a.m. by cryogenic fueling, loading the first stage with liquid oxygen. This will lead to a liftoff targeted for 11:45 a.m. EDT.
Mission: OSTM/Jason-2
Location: Astrotech payload processing facility, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320 (United Launch Alliance)
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base
Launch Date: No earlier than June 19, 2008
Launch Window: 12:59 a.m. – 1:08 a.m. PDT
At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, the OSTM/Jason 2 spacecraft is ready for transportation to Space Launch Complex 2 for mating with the Delta II rocket. An initial attempt was planned for Monday, June 2, but was postponed due to high wind. These windy conditions have continued throughout the week and have precluded shipping of the encapsulated spacecraft to the launch pad and hoisting of the spacecraft into the mobile service tower. Technicians hope the wind will begin to diminish sometime over the weekend. Launch has been retargeted for no earlier than June 19.
Previous status reports are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2008
