Mission: AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere)
Launch Pad: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL (Orbital Sciences)
Launch Date: April 25, 2007
Launch Time: 1:26:49 p.m. PDT (4:26:49 p.m. EDT)
NASA’s AIM spacecraft was mated to the Pegasus XL rocket on April 4, and an integrated flight simulation was successfully completed during the week of April 13. The Pegasus fairing was installed around the AIM spacecraft, followed by black light inspection of the fairing and spacecraft. The spacecraft umbilical was disconnected and re-routed to allow the payload fairing to move into the clean room. The AIM electrical ground support equipment was loaded into the launch site support trailer on Tuesday, and the trailer was transported to the flight line.
The Pegasus rocket with the AIM spacecraft was installed onto the transporter on April 16. The L-1011 carrier aircraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on April 17. The Pegasus launch vehicle with the AIM spacecraft was transported to the flight line and mated with the L-1011 on Saturday.
Mission: Dawn
Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7925-H
Launch Date: NET June 30, 2007
Launch Time: 5:13:15 p.m. EDT
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft arrived at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., on April 10 for final prelaunch and processing activities. The spacecraft was cleaned and inspected after removal of the access panels. The “command and data handling” portion of the Comprehensive Performance Test was completed on April 19. Technicians began testing the ion propulsion system and thermal control system on April 19.
Dawn’s mission will mark the first time a spacecraft will orbit two planetary bodies on a single voyage: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn spacecraft is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center and the United Launch Alliance are responsible for the launch of the Delta II.
Previous status reports are available on the Web at:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2007
– end –
text-only version of this release
To receive status reports and news releases issued from the Kennedy Space Center Newsroom electronically, send a blank e-mail message to ksc-subscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov. To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail message to ksc-unsubscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov. The system will confirm your request via e-mail.
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468