* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Dawn spacecraft

Blobrana · L

Launch and flight teams are in final preparations for the planned Sept. 27 liftoff from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, of NASA's Dawn mission. The Dawn spacecraft will venture into the heart of the asteroid belt, where it will document in exceptional detail the mammoth rocky asteroid Vesta, and then, the even bigger icy dwarf planet Ceres.
Dawn's Sept. 27 launch window is 23:20 - 23:49 UT (7:20 to 7:49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

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Blobrana · L

The launch of the Dawn spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in the 7925-Heavy vehicle configuration, has been postponed 24 hours.
Fuelling of the launch vehicle's second stage was unable to be completed on Sunday because of weather conditions at the launch pad.
The launch now is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 27, at the opening of a window that extends from 11:20-11:49 GMT (7:20 a.m. to 7:49 a.m. EDT).

Blobrana · L

The countdown is underway for Dawn's liftoff on September 26 at 7:25:00 am EDT.
This is the second time our hero has been within a few days of launch, and with a full 20-day launch period still ahead of it, confidence is high the mission will get underway soon. Now the Dawn project is ready with a new flight profile to allow the probe to leave Earth months later than planned and yet still keep its interplanetary appointments on schedule.
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Blobrana · L

Launch of NASA's Dawn spacecraft is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 26, from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch window is 7:25 to 7:54 a.m. EDT. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Centre is responsible for the launch of Dawn aboard a Delta II rocket. United Launch Alliance is conducting the launch service for NASA. Should the launch be postponed 24 hours for any reason, the launch window will extend from 7:20 to 7:49 a.m. EDT. For a 48-hour postponement, the launch window will be from 7:14 to 7:43 a.m.

Blobrana · L

STATUS REPORT: ELV-091407

Mission: Dawn
Location: Launch Pad 17-B
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7925-H
Launch Date: Sept. 26, 2007
Launch Window: 7:25 - 7:54 a.m. EDT

On Tuesday, the Dawn spacecraft arrived at Pad 17-B at 5:10 a.m. after an overnight rollout from the Astrotech payload processing facility. At 8:01 a.m., Dawn was officially declared secure atop the Delta II rocket. Technicians successfully conducted spacecraft state-of-health checks on Wednesday.
The launch team completed the flight program verification on Thursday without issues. This integrated launch readiness electrical test ensures the Dawn spacecraft and Delta II rocket are working together in unison. Installation of the payload fairing around the spacecraft is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Blobrana · L

"Dawn will be history's first mission to go out into the solar system, orbit and explore a distant body, and then go on to a totally different celestial body and explore that one. To do all that you need a spacecraft with a lot under the hood" - Dawn project manager Keyur Patel of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, US.

What Patel considers a lot under the hood is definitely not the exo-atmospheric equivalent of a muscle car's 426 Hemi engine. After all, it is about a different type of performance up there - the kind where smooth, reliable operation and gas mileage count more than the capability to burn rubber. What it takes up there is a deep-space qualified engine, a whole bunch of juice and the same kind of gas used in photographic flash bulbs and some car headlights.
The engine is called NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness. Most people in the deep space exploration business just refer to it as "ion propulsion." The juice is, of course, electricity, courtesy of 54 feet of electricity-producing solar array. The gas is xenon, an inert, colourless gas that is four times heavier than air and is the propellant of choice for asteroid explorers everywhere.

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Blobrana · L

The Dawn spacecraft completed the 25-kilometer journey from Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, to Pad-17B of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:10 a.m. EDT today. The launch period for Dawn, NASA's eight-year, more than 5-billion-kilometer odyssey into the heart of the asteroid belt, opens Sept. 26.

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"From here, the only way to go is up" - Dawn project manager Keyur Patel of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US.

Blobrana · L

STATUS REPORT: ELV-090707

Mission: Dawn
Location: Astrotech payload processing facility
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7925-H
Launch Pad: 17-B
Launch Date: Sept. 26, 2007
Launch Window: 7:25 - 7:54 a.m. EDT

Engineers loaded liquid oxygen aboard the first stage late last week as a test for first stage components.
Dawn spacecraft operational readiness testing is complete.
Spacecraft thermal blanket closeout work is being finished today.
Technicians will be installing Dawn into the payload canister on Sept. 10 for transportation to Launch Complex 17. The spacecraft will be mated to the Delta II rocket at Pad 17-B on Sept. 11.
The flight program verification, an integrated launch readiness test with the Dawn spacecraft integrated with the Delta II, is scheduled for Sept. 13.
Installation of the payload fairing around the spacecraft is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Blobrana · L

NASA is preparing (again) to bring Dawn to the Florida skies as all systems are gearing up for a September 26 launch. This new date is later than had been planned just a few months ago; nevertheless, as we shall see, in the most important sense, this genuinely is not a delay for Dawn's mission of adventure, discovery, and the search for answers to exciting and important scientific questions. Earth's next interplanetary ambassador remains on schedule for its engagements.
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