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NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321-867-2468
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. March
10, 2004
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
KSC Release: 07-04
MESSENGER SPACECRAFT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA TO BEGIN FINAL
PREPARATIONS FOR MAY LAUNCH
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, the first
Mercury orbiter, has arrived in Florida after being shipped from
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. MESSENGER - short for
MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging - will
be launched on a six-year mission aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket
on May 11.
Secured in an air-conditioned transportation van, MESSENGER arrived
at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facilities near Kennedy
Space Center, where it was offloaded and taken into a high bay
clean room.
After the spacecraft is removed from
its shipping container by employees of the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory, builders of the spacecraft, their
first activity will be to perform an initial state-of-health
check. Then processing for launch
can begin including checkout of the power systems, communications
systems and control systems. The thermal blankets will also
be attached for flight.
A major milestone will occur in mid-April
with the installation of the two solar arrays, which will then
undergo a deployment test. MESSENGER
would then be ready for loading of the on-board hydrazine fuel
and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer used for propulsion and spacecraft
control. The fully assembled and fueled spacecraft will undergo
spin balance testing in preparation for a stable cruise toward
Mercury.
Finally, MESSENGER will be hoisted atop
the Delta upper stage, the solid propellant Star 48 third stage
booster made by Alliant which will propel the spacecraft from
earth orbit on its interplanetary trajectory. After a final
integrated functional test, MESSENGER will be ready to be installed
into its transportation canister for the 15-mile trip to the
launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Meanwhile, at Space Launch Complex 17,
the build-up and checkout of the Boeing Delta II Heavy expendable
launch vehicle will be underway. The activity on Pad 17-B is currently scheduled
to begin on March 31 with the erection of the first stage. The
nine extra-large, strap-on solid boosters will follow, erected
in sets of three during the week of April 1-7. Next, the
second stage will be hoisted atop the first stage on April 13.
After the Delta II is fully erected on the pad, vehicle electrical
checks will begin.
A countdown test with the first stage loaded with liquid oxygen
will occur on April 21. A Simulated Flight Test, a plus count, will
occur the following day. This activates the electrical and mechanical
flight systems on the vehicle as they will occur from liftoff through spacecraft
separation.
Finally, on April 27, the compact 1.2-ton
MESSENGER spacecraft will arrive at the pad and be lifted atop
the Delta II. After
a critical integrated test, the Flight Program Verification on
April 30, the fairing will be placed around the spacecraft on May
4.
The final pre-launch preparations and
countdown activities begin three days before launch. Liftoff
is targeted for the opening of a 12-second launch window at 2:26
a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 11.
MESSENGER will fly past Venus three times
and Mercury twice before starting its year-long orbital study
of Mercury in July 2009. The
Venus flybys, in November 2004, August 2005 and October 2006, will
use the planet's gravity to guide MESSENGER toward Mercury's orbit. Mercury
flybys in October 2007 and July 2008 will fine-tune the MESSENGER
path and allow the spacecraft to gather data critical to planning
the mission once it is in orbit.
MESSENGER is the next launch in NASA's
Discovery Program of lower cost, highly focused missions for
NASA's Office of Space Science. Government
oversight of launch preparations and the countdown management of
launch day is the responsibility of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space
Center. The launch service is provided to NASA by Boeing
Launch Services.
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