MISSION: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar & Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation/CloudSat (CALIPSO/CloudSat)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Boeing Delta 7420 with Dual Payload Attach Fitting (DPAF)
LAUNCH PAD: Space Launch Complex 2
LAUNCH SITE: Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California
LAUNCH DATE: TBD
LAUNCH WINDOW: 5:01 a.m. EST (2:01 a.m. PST)
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
LAUNCH SITE: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
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.
Previous status reports are available on the Web at:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2005
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
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Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-3749)
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)