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Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report

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 payload processing facility, SDO solar arrays were inspected and cleaned. Last weekend, SDO was moved to a fixture for rotation from vertical to horizontal to undergo final mechanical work and spacecraft cleaning. A spacecraft launch simulation was completed at Astrotech Dec. 8.
On Dec. 13, SDO was cleaned and closeouts were performed in the horizontal position for the final time. On Tuesday, spacecraft closeouts began in preparation for soft storage and fueling operations.
The Kennedy Space Center fueling and propulsion teams prepared for fueling activities.
After undergoing preliminary testing, the Atlas and Centaur stages of the Atlas V rocket were transported from the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), located south of Launch Complex 41, to the complex’s Vertical Integration Facility on Dec. 15. Build up of the Atlas V booster began Dec. 15.
Spacecraft: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-P)
Launch Vehicle: Delta IV
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: Feb. 25, 2010
Launch Time: TBD
The GOES-P satellite arrived at NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility from its manufacturing plant in El Segundo, Calif., on Dec. 17. Upon arrival, the spacecraft was offloaded and transported to the Astrotech payload processing facility to begin prelaunch testing.
GOES-P was developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. NASA has contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-P spacecraft.
The NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy is supporting the launch in an advisory role. NASA spacecraft project management for GOES-P is the responsibility of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. After launch, once Boeing and NASA have completed on-orbit checkout and the spacecraft is operational, it will be turned over to NOAA.
Previous status reports are available at:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html
 
 

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text-only version of this release

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George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov