SPACECRAFT AND EXPENDABLE VEHICLES STATUS REPORT<br />February 19, 2003<br /><br />George H. Diller<br />Kennedy Space Center<br />321/867-2468<br /><br />MISSION: Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)<br />LAUNCH VEHICLE: Pegasus XL<br />LAUNCH PAD: Skid Strip, Canaveral Air Force Station<br />LAUNCH DATE: March 25, 2003<br />LAUNCH WINDOW: 6:50 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. EST (Drop time 7:00 a.m.)<br /><br /> The Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft with the Pegasus<br />launch vehicle arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station from Vandenberg<br />Air Force Base, Calif. at 4:21 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. It is being<br />demated from the L-1011 today and transported to the Multipurpose Payload<br />Processing Facility (MPPF) at Kennedy Space Center early this evening.<br /><br /> Last week at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Pegasus was mated to<br />the L-1011 on Friday, Feb. 14 and was followed by a fully successful<br />Combined Systems Test.<br /><br /> GALEX, built for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by the Orbital<br />Sciences Space Systems Group, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday,<br />Feb. 2 and is undergoing prelaunch testing at the MPPF located in the KSC<br />Industrial Area. The spacecraft completed a solar array lighting test on<br />Feb. 12, and a deployment test of the arrays was completed on Feb. 13. The<br />spacecraft functional test and battery reconditioning is scheduled this<br />week.<br /><br /> The GALEX program management is by NASA's Goddard Space Flight<br />Center and is part of Goddard's Small Explorer (SMEX) program. Spacecraft<br />project management is the responsibility of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,<br />and the California Institute of Technology is the lead for mission science.<br /><br /><br />MISSION: Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS)<br />LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II<br />LAUNCH PAD: Pad 17-A<br />LAUNCH DATE: March 29, 2003<br />LAUNCH TIME: 5:00 p.m. EST<br /><br /> The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-A was<br />scheduled to begin Feb. 13. Erection of the nine solid rocket boosters was<br />scheduled for Feb. 14-18. The second stage is planned for hoisting atop the<br />first stage on Feb. 19. ProSEDS is flying as a secondary payload on the<br />Delta II beneath a U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.<br /><br /> Once the spacecraft arrives on Feb. 27, it will be processed in<br />the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) located in the KSC Industrial Area.<br />On March 17, ProSEDS will be transported to the launch pad and attached to<br />the Delta II near the top of the second stage. This will be followed by<br />electrical connections and a spacecraft functional test.<br /><br /> The Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System - called ProSEDS -<br />is a tether-based propulsion experiment that draws power from the space<br />environment around Earth, allowing the transfer of energy from the Earth to<br />the spacecraft.<br /><br /> Inexpensive and reusable, ProSEDS technology has the potential to<br />turn orbiting, in-space tethers into "space tugboats" - replacing heavy,<br />costly, traditional chemical propulsion and enabling a variety of<br />space-based missions, such as the fuel-free raising and lowering of<br />satellite orbits.<br /><br /><br />MISSION: Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)<br />LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II Heavy<br />LAUNCH PAD: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station<br />LAUNCH DATE: April 15, 2003<br />LAUNCH TIME: 4:34:07 a.m. EDT<br /><br /> The SIRTF spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space<br />Center March 6. It will be shipped from the Lockheed Martin plant at<br />Sunnyvale, Calif.<br /><br /> The erection of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-B is<br />scheduled to begin on Feb. 24. Erection of the nine solid rocket boosters<br />is scheduled to follow Feb. 25-Mar. 3. The second stage is planned for<br />hoisting atop the first stage on March 5.<br /><br /> The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will obtain images<br />and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects<br />in space between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth<br />of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's<br />atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground.<br /><br /> Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically<br />cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared<br />telescopes to be launched. Its highly sensitive instruments will give us a<br />unique view of the Universe and allow us to peer into regions of space that<br />are hidden from optical telescopes on the ground or orbiting telescopes such<br />as the Hubble Space Telescope. Many areas of space are filled with vast,<br />dense clouds of gas and dust that block our view. Infrared light can<br />penetrate these clouds, allowing us to peer into regions of star formation,<br />the centers of galaxies, and into newly forming planetary systems. Infrared<br />also brings us information about the cooler objects in space, such as<br />smaller stars that are too dim to be detected by their visible light, extra<br />solar planets, and giant molecular clouds. Also, many molecules in space,<br />including organic molecules, have their unique signatures in the infrared.<br /><br /><br />MISSION: Mars Exploration Rovers (MER-1/MER-2)<br />LAUNCH VEHICLES: Delta II/Delta II Heavy<br />LAUNCH PADS: 17-A/17-B<br />LAUNCH DATES: May 30/June 25<br />LAUNCH TIMES: 2:28 p.m./12:34 a.m.<br /><br /> The cruise stage, aeroshell and lander for the MER-2 mission<br />arrived at the KSC Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on Monday,<br />Jan. 27. The identical flight hardware for MER-1 and the first of the two<br />Mars Exploration rovers will arrive at KSC on Monday, Feb. 24. The second<br />rover will arrive the second week of March.