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STEREO Arrives in Florida to Begin Launch Preparations



 
 
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Old May 3rd 06, 09:17 PM posted to sci.space.news
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Default STEREO Arrives in Florida to Begin Launch Preparations

05.03.06

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(321) 867-2468

Rachel Weintraub
Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.
(301) 286-0918

RELEASE: 30-06

STEREO ARRIVES IN FLORIDA TO BEGIN LAUNCH PREPARATIONS

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft
arrived today at Astrotech, a payload processing facility near
Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to begin preparations and final
testing for launch. Liftoff will occur aboard a Boeing Delta II
rocket from Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
the summer.

STEREO consists of two spacecraft that together comprise the first
mission to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-D. This
new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its
impact on the Earth.

During its two-year mission, the two nearly identical spacecraft will
explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of
coronal mass ejections, the most violent explosions in our solar
system. When directed at Earth, these billion-ton eruptions can
disrupt satellites, radio communications and power systems. In
addition, energetic particles associated with these solar eruptions
are hazardous to scientific spacecraft and astronauts.

Truly an international effort, the STEREO mission utilizes scientific
collaboration and instrument components provided by the United
Kingdom, France, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, and the European
Space Agency. The instruments were integrated with the observatories
by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in
Laurel, Md. Spacecraft testing was performed at APL and NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Now that both observatories are in Florida, technicians will begin the
final activities to prepare them for launch. This includes
integration and test activities such as: deployment of the solar
arrays and high-gain antennas, installation of the flight batteries,
a mission simulation for each of the two observatories (also
involving the Deep Space Network), and a spacecraft Comprehensive
Performance Test, an overall test of the spacecraft systems and its
instruments. The observatory propulsion system will then be ready to
undergo leak tests and fueling operations. Finally, the two
observatories will be vertically stacked in their launch
configuration for spin-balance testing before mating with the
upper-stage booster. These operations are scheduled to take
approximately three months.

The build-up of the Boeing Delta II rocket at Launch Complex 17 will
begin later this month. The first stage is currently planned to be
erected on Pad 17-B during the last week of May, followed by the
attachment of the nine solid rocket boosters. The second stage is
currently planned to be hoisted atop the first stage late in the
first week of June.

STEREO is targeted for transportation to the launch pad and mating
with the Delta II on July 10. The initial launch period for STEREO
extends from July 22 to Aug. 6.


-end-

 




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