[FPSPACE] FW: GLAST Spacecraft Arrives in Florida to Prepare for Launch

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: KSC News Center <ksc at newsletters.nasa.gov>
>To: KSC News Center <ksc at newsletters.nasa.gov>
>Subject: GLAST Spacecraft Arrives in Florida to Prepare for Launch
>Date: Tue Mar  4 09:15:02 CST 2008
>
>March 4, 2008
>
>George Diller
>Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
>321-867-2468
>george.h.diller at nasa.gov
>
>Rob Gutro
>Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
>301-286-4044
>robert.j.gutro at nasa.gov
>
>RELEASE: 04-08
>
>GLAST SPACECRAFT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA TO PREPARE FOR LAUNCH
>
>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or
>GLAST, arrived Tuesday at the Astrotech payload processing facility
>near the Kennedy Space Center to begin final preparations for launch.
>Liftoff of GLAST aboard a Delta II rocket is currently targeted for
>11:45 a.m. EDT on May 16.
>
>GLAST is a collaborative mission with the U.S. Department of Energy,
>international partners from France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden,
>and numerous academic institutions from the U.S. and abroad. The
>spacecraft will explore the most extreme environments in the
>universe, and answer questions about supermassive black hole systems,
>pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays. It also will study the mystery
>of powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts.
>
>The milestones to be accomplished over the next two months include
>attaching the Ku-band communications antenna and the two sets of
>solar arrays, a complete checkout of GLAST's scientific instruments,
>installing the spacecraft's battery, and loading aboard the
>observatory's propellant. These activities will be performed by
>General Dynamics, builder of the spacecraft for NASA. GLAST currently
>is scheduled to be transported to Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air
>Force Station on May 1.
>
>The rocket that will launch GLAST is a Delta II 7920-H, manufactured
>and prepared for launch by United Launch Alliance. It is a
>heavier-lift model of the standard Delta II that uses larger solid
>rocket boosters. The first stage is scheduled to be erected on Pad
>17-B the week of March 17.
>
>The following week, the nine strap-on solid rocket boosters will be
>raised and attached. The second stage, which burns hypergolic
>propellants, will be hoisted atop the first stage in late March.
>Next, the fairing that will surround the spacecraft will be hoisted
>into the clean room of the mobile service tower.
>
>Engineers will perform several tests of the Delta II. In late April,
>the first stage will be loaded with liquid oxygen and checked for
>leaks. The following day, a simulated flight test will be performed,
>testing the vehicle's post-liftoff flight events without fuel aboard.
>The electrical and mechanical systems of the entire Delta II will be
>exercised during this test.
>
>Once the GLAST payload is atop the launch vehicle, a final major test
>will be performed. The combined minus count and plus count test
>simulates all events as they will occur on launch day, but without
>propellants aboard the vehicle.
>
>The NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is
>responsible for the countdown and launch management of the Delta II
>GLAST mission.
>
>For more information about GLAST, visit:
>
>http://www.nasa.gov/glast
>
>
>-end-
>
>
>
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