SPACECRAFT AND EXPENDABLE VEHICLES STATUS REPORT<br />February 27, 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, Cape 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., on Feb. 18. The following day, it was demated from<br />the L-1011 and transported to the Multipurpose Payload Processing Facility<br />at Kennedy Space Center, arriving there at 8 p.m.<br /><br /> The payload fairing was removed on Feb. 21. A flight simulation<br />was performed the following day. An Interface Verification Test (IVT)<br />involving the launch vehicle and the GALEX spacecraft was performed on<br />Wednesday, Feb. 26. Another Flight Simulation is scheduled for tomorrow,<br />Friday, Feb. 28.<br /><br /> GALEX will be mated to the Pegasus vehicle on March 5 and then<br />transported to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 21 for mating to<br />the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft.<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, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station<br />LAUNCH DATE: March 29, 2003 (U/R)<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 />completed late last week and testing is currently under way. ProSEDS is<br />flying as a secondary payload on the Delta II beneath a U.S. Air Force<br />Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.<br /><br /> Once the spacecraft arrives on Saturday, March 1, it will be<br />processed in the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) located in the KSC<br />Industrial Area. While there, the final spacecraft component integration<br />will occur, a complete functional test will be performed, and the spacecraft<br />batteries will be charged for the mission. On March 17, ProSEDS will be<br />transported to the launch pad and attached to the Delta II near the top of<br />the second stage. This will be followed by electrical connections and a<br />second spacecraft functional test.<br /><br /> At this time, a review is under way to assess whether ProSEDS<br />should be flown on the GPS 2R-9 launch opportunity.<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<br />began on Monday, Feb. 24 with the erection of the first stage. Erection of<br />the nine solid rocket boosters is now under way and will continue through<br />March 3. The second stage is planned for hoisting atop the first stage on<br />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, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station<br />LAUNCH DATES: May 30/June 25<br />LAUNCH TIMES: 2:28 p.m./12:34 a.m.<br /><br />The first of two Mars Exploration Rovers, MER-2, arrived at the Kennedy<br />Space Center on Monday from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,<br />Calif. The cruise stage, aeroshell and lander for the Mars Exploration<br />Rover-1 mission also arrived with it. This same flight hardware for the<br />MER-2 rover arrived Jan. 27. However, this rover is scheduled to arrive at<br />KSC around March 10.<br /><br />The Boeing Delta II vehicle for the first of the two launches, scheduled on<br />May 30, is planned for erection on the pad at Space Launch Complex 17<br />beginning April 18. The Delta for the second launch on June 25 will begin<br />erection activities on May 1.<br /><br />While at KSC, each of the two rovers, the aeroshells and the landers will<br />undergo a full mission simulation. All of these flight elements will then<br />be integrated together. After spin balance testing, each spacecraft will be<br />mated to a solid propellant upper stage booster that will propel the<br />spacecraft out of Earth orbit. Approximately ten days before launch, they<br />will be transported to the launch pad for mating with their respective<br />Boeing Delta II rockets.<br /><br />The rovers will serve as robotic geologists to seek answers about the<br />evolution of Mars, particularly for a history of water.