Spacecraft: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Pad: SLC-2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: No earlier than Dec. 7, 2009
Launch Window: 6:10 – 6:23 a.m. PST
At the Astrotech payload processing facility on north Vandenberg, WISE spacecraft processing is going well and continues on schedule. The spacecraft instrument closeouts are under way. The spacecraft launch initiation test is complete. The spacecraft has also been weighed and mated to the payload attach fitting. A contamination inspection and cleaning is being performed.
Build-up of the Delta II at Space Launch Complex 2 is scheduled to begin on Oct. 19 with hoisting of the first stage into the launcher.
A brush fire has been under way near the Vandenberg main gate but has not had a significant impact on activities at NASA’s Space Launch Complex 2 or on payload processing. The fire has been contained and is now burning only at a low level.
Spacecraft: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V-401
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Feb. 3, 2010
Launch Window: 10:53 – 11:53 a.m. EST
The SDO test team brought the spacecraft out of its dwell period at Astrotech this week to resume processing. Deployment testing of one of the instrument cover doors has been under way and was followed by instrument cleaning.
On Oct. 1, SDO was rotated to the vertical position in its handling fixture and then moved onto a vertical dolly in preparation for propulsion system testing and leak checks over the course of the next week.
The Atlas first stage booster is set to arrive by air at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Oct. 19, followed by the Centaur upper stage on Oct. 22.
Previous status reports are available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html
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George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov