Spacecraft: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Pad: SLC-2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: Dec. 9, 2009
Launch Window: 6:10 – 6:23 a.m. PST
The WISE spacecraft was transported from the Astrotech payload processing facility to Space Launch Complex 2 on Nov. 20. It then was hoisted atop the Delta II rocket. Work to install the payload fairing around the spacecraft is scheduled for Nov. 25.
The Delta II flight program verification was successfully conducted on Nov. 22. This is an integrated electrical test of the Delta II rocket and the WISE spacecraft. It involves both a countdown and flight test. This was the final, fully integrated test of the Delta II and the WISE spacecraft prior to launch.
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
At the Astrotech Space Operations Center, deployment testing of the two SDO high gain antennas and the twin solar arrays was completed successfully on Nov. 16. They were then stowed for flight on Nov. 18.
The Centaur upper stage for the Atlas V rocket arrived by air at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 18. The Atlas rocket’s first-stage booster had arrived previously on Oct. 27. Both are in the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) located south of Launch Complex 41, where they are undergoing preliminary testing. The Atlas will be transported to the Vertical Integration Facility on Dec. 8, and the Centaur, on Dec. 9.
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