• Preparations are under way for moving the Dawn spacecraft to an adjacent clean room high bay for solar array integration.



• Next week, the two spacecraft solar arrays, each consisting of four panels, will be attached to the Dawn spacecraft and undergo deployment testing. A solar array lighting test also will be performed before the arrays are stowed for flight. This activity is scheduled for May 21-24.



• The spacecraft will be moved to Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility for fueling on May 26.



• The Delta II first stage will be hoisted into the launcher at Pad 17-B on May 23 and attachment of the nine solid rocket boosters will begin.

• The dry spin test of the spacecraft was successfully completed. A heat shield deployment test also was successfully conducted Wednesday.



• The electrical power system final performance test was completed Thursday.



• The flight software will be loaded aboard the spacecraft on May 21.



• Compatibility testing with the Deep Space Network is scheduled for May 23-25.



• In Hangar AO at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, gimbal slew tests of the Delta II first-stage main engine will be conducted next week. These are main engine steering checks using the first-stage hydraulic systems.

- end -

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