NASA Spacecraft and Expendable Launch Vehicles Status Report 31 October

Mission: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite
Observations and CloudSat (CALIPSO/CloudSat)
Launch Vehicle: Boeing Delta 7420 with Dual Payload Attach Fitting
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: TBD
Launch Window: 5:01 a.m. EST

CALIPSO and CloudSat are installed within the Dual Payload Attach Fitting. They continue to undergo spacecraft battery charging. The processing team is maintaining the spacecraft safely inside the payload facility at Vandenberg. NASA, Boeing and the Air Force are addressing the problem encountered while testing batteries used for the flight termination system of the Delta II.

Boeing launch site technicians recently rejected a proposed new contract. Launch preparations are on hold pending resolution of the negotiations between Boeing and the union representing the technicians.

Mission: New Horizons
Launch Vehicle: Lockheed Martin Atlas V 551 (AV-010)
Launch Pad: Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Jan. 11, 2006
Launch Window: 2:07 to 4:07 p.m. EST

On Oct. 24, Hurricane Wilma damaged the specially-built fabric MegaDoor which covers the large opening of the Atlas V Vertical Integration Facility. The Atlas 5 rocket and some ground support equipment were slightly damaged. There were no injuries. NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians are assessing the damage and the recovery process, including door repair options, to confirm the continued ability to support the launch.

The spacecraft was returned to a work stand Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. It was removed from the protective shipping container, where it had been placed before the hurricane. The spacecraft’s outside surfaces are being cleaned.