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Deep Impact arrives in Florida to prepaire for launch



 
 
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Old October 18th 04, 11:38 PM
Jacques van Oene
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Default Deep Impact arrives in Florida to prepaire for launch

For Release: October 18, 2004

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington D.C.
(Phone: 202/358-1727)

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

D.C. Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(Phone: 818/393-9011)

KSC RELEASE NO. 80-04
DEEP IMPACT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA TO PREPARE FOR LAUNCH

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has arrived in Florida to begin final
preparations for a launch on Dec. 30, 2004. The spacecraft was shipped from
Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Boulder, Colo., to the Astrotech Space
Operations facility located near the Kennedy Space Center.

"Deep Impact has begun its journey to comet Tempel 1," said Rick Grammier,
Deep Impact project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "First to
Florida, then to space, and then to the comet itself. It will be quite a
journey and one which we can all witness together."

The Deep Impact spacecraft is designed to launch a copper projectile into
the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million
miles from Earth. When this 820-pound "impactor" hits the surface of the
comet at approximately 23,000 miles per hour, the 3-by-3 foot projectile
will create a crater several hundred feet in size. Deep Impact's "flyby"
spacecraft will collect pictures and data of the event. It will send the
data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Professional and amateur astronomers on Earth will also be able to observe
the material flying from the comet's newly formed crater, adding to the data
and images collected by the Deep Impact spacecraft and other telescopes.
Tempel 1 poses no threat to Earth in the foreseeable future.

Today at Astrotech, Deep Impact is being removed from its shipping
container, the first of the numerous milestones to prepare it for launch.
Later this week, the spacecraft begins functional testing to verify its
state of health after the over-the-road journey from Colorado. This will be
followed by loading updated flight software and beginning a series of
Mission Readiness Tests. These tests involve the entire spacecraft flight
system that includes the flyby and impactor, as well as the associated
science instruments and the spacecraft's basic subsystems.

Next, the high gain antenna used for spacecraft communications will be
installed. The solar array will then be stowed and an illumination test
performed as a final check of its performance. Next, Deep Impact will be
ready for fueling preparations. Once this is complete, the 2,152-pound
spacecraft will be mated atop the upper stage booster, the Delta rocket's
third stage. The integrated stack will be installed into a transportation
canister in preparation for going to the launch pad in mid-December.

Once at the pad and hoisted onto the Boeing Delta II rocket, a brief
functional test will be performed to re-verify spacecraft state of health.
Next will be an integrated test with the Delta II before installing the
fairing around the spacecraft.

Deep Impact mission scientists are confident such an intimate glimpse
beneath the surface of a comet, where material and debris from the formation
of the Solar System remain relatively unchanged, will answer basic questions
about the formation of the Solar System and offer a better look at the
nature and composition of these celestial wanderers.

Launch aboard the Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled to occur on Dec. 30,
2004 from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch
window extends from 2:39 - 3:19 p.m. EST.

The overall Deep Impact mission management for this Discovery class program
is conducted by the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. Deep Impact
project management is by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The spacecraft has been built for NASA by Ball Aerospace and Technologies
Corporation. The spacecraft/launch vehicle integration and launch countdown
management are the responsibility of the Launch Services Program office head
quartered at Kennedy Space Center.

Photos of Deep Impact's arrival and processing can be found at the following
URL. Additional photos will be added to the page as they occur.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=126



-end-



--
---------------------------

Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info



 




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