Spacecraft and Expendable Vehicles Status Report 13 Mar 2003

MISSION: Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)

• LAUNCH VEHICLE: Pegasus XL
• LAUNCH PAD: Skid Strip, Canaveral Air Force Station
• LAUNCH DATE: March 30, 2003 NET
• LAUNCH WINDOW: 6:50 a.m. – 8:50 a.m. EST (Drop time 7:00 a.m.)

In the Multipurpose Payload Processing Facility (MPPDF), mating of
the GALEX spacecraft to Pegasus launch vehicle is underway today. Once the
electrical connections have been established, a Flight Simulation test will
be performed.

GALEX will be transported to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station the
last week of March for mating to the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier
aircraft.

A request for a launch date of Apr. 2 has been made to the Eastern
Range. That date is not available at this time. As an alternative,
schedule options are being developed for a launch date as early as Mar. 30.

The GALEX program management is by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center and is part of Goddard’s Small Explorer (SMEX) program. Spacecraft
project management is the responsibility of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
and the California Institute of Technology is the lead for mission science.

MISSION: Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)

• LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II Heavy
• LAUNCH PAD: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
• LAUNCH DATE: April 15, 2003 NET
• LAUNCH TIME: 4:34:07 a.m. EDT

The SIRTF spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday,
Mar. 6. It was shipped from the Lockheed Martin plant at Sunnyvale, Calif.
Testing and final preparations for launch are being performed in a class
10,000 laminar flow clean room at NASA Spacecraft Hangar AE on Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station.

Once inside the high bay, the spacecraft was rotated to vertical
and the protective coverings removed. Spacecraft systems functional testing
is underway this week.

The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-B
began on Monday, Feb. 24 with the erection of the first stage. Erection of
the nine solid rocket boosters was completed this week. The second stage is
planned for hoisting atop the first stage on Friday, March 12. A leak
check of the first stage that includes loading liquid oxygen aboard is
scheduled for March 22. A flight simulation to test the vehicle’s systems
that will operate during power flight is scheduled for March 26.

MISSION: Mars Exploration Rovers (MER-1/MER-2)

• LAUNCH VEHICLES: Delta II/Delta II Heavy
• LAUNCH PADS: 17-A/17-B
• LAUNCH DATES: May 30/June 25
• LAUNCH TIMES: 2:28 p.m. / 12:34 a.m. EDT

At Kennedy Space Center, the second of the two Mars Exploration Rovers,
MER-1, arrived on Tuesday, March 11 and has begun its prelaunch testing in
the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). A functional test of the
MER-2 rover systems was conducted on Mar. 6 and Mar. 9 and included
deployment of the lander petals, the rover’s solar arrays, camera mast and
camera. The camera also took test images. A similar test for MER-1 is
scheduled to occur late next week.

Once functional testing and mission simulation of the flight elements is
complete, they will be integrated together. Each spacecraft will be mated
to a solid propellant upper stage booster that will propel the spacecraft
out of Earth orbit. After mating to the upper stage, the stack will undergo
spin balance testing. Approximately ten days before launch the payload will
be transported to the launch pad for mating with their respective Boeing
Delta II rockets.

The Boeing Delta II vehicle for the first launch of the two launches
scheduled on May 30 is planned for erection on Pad 17-A at Space Launch
Complex 17 beginning April 18. The Delta for the second launch on June 25
will begin erection activities on May 1 on Pad 17-B.