November 10, 2004
SPACECRAFT AND EXPENDABLE VEHICLES STATUS REPORT
George Diller
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
[snip]
MISSION: Deep Impact
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II
LAUNCH PAD: SLC 17-B/Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: December 30, 2004
LAUNCH WINDOW: 2:39:42 p.m. (EST) instantaneous
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft arrived in Florida on Oct. 23 to begin final preparations for launch on Dec. 30. 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 was removed from its shipping container and is undergoing its Functional and Mission Readiness testing, scheduled for completion on Nov. 23. These tests involve the entire spacecraft flight system (including the flyby and impactor, associated science instruments and the spacecraft's basic subsystems), along with loading updated flight software.
The high gain antenna used for spacecraft communications will be installed on Nov. 29. The solar array will then be stowed and an illumination test performed as a final check of its performance on Nov. 30. Deep Impact will then be ready to begin preparation for fueling on Dec. 6 and is scheduled to be completed on Dec. 9.
The stacking of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle on Pad 17-B will begin onNov. 22 with the hoisting of the first stage into the launcher. Hoisting of the nine strap-on solid rocket boosters, in sets of three, is scheduled for Nov. 23, Nov. 29, and Dec. 1. The second stage will be hoisted into position atop the first stage on Dec. 3.
The overall Deep Impact mission management for this Discovery class program is conducted by the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Deep Impact project management is handled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The spacecraft has been built for NASA by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation.
