Mission: IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer)
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL (Orbital Sciences)
Launch Facility: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Pacific Atoll
Launch Date: Oct. 5, 2008
Launch Window: 12:42 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. EDT
(04:42 a.m. – 04:45 a.m. local Kwajalein time)
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, final spin-balance testing of the integrated IBEX spacecraft and upper stage booster flight stack was successfully completed on Aug. 16. The upper stage motor and the IBEX spacecraft were then moved to the Pegasus launch vehicle hangar Aug. 19-20. They will be attached to the Pegasus rocket Sept. 8-9.
Meanwhile, at the Orbital Sciences launch vehicle hangar, prelaunch processing of the Pegasus XL rocket continues to occur on schedule. Mating of all of the three stages now is complete, and the interface verification test is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 2.
The L-1011 carrying the Pegasus XL rocket with IBEX currently is planned to depart from Vandenberg on Sept. 25. After a stop in Hawaii, the flight will continue and arrive at the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the south Pacific on Sept. 26.
For information about IBEX and its mission, visit:
Previous status reports are available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2008
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George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov