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Mars Climate Orbiter Arrives At KSC To Begin Launch Preparations

Kennedy Space Center News Release
September 11, 1998                                                
KSC Contact: George H. Diller
KSC Release No. 100-98

MARS CLIMATE ORBITER ARRIVES AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER TO BEGIN LAUNCH
PREPARATIONS

NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter arrived at Kennedy Space Center today to
begin final preparations for launch. The spacecraft arrived aboard an Air
Force C-17 cargo plane at the Shuttle Landing Facility early this morning
following its flight from the Lockheed Martin Astronautics plant in
Denver, Colo. The launch of the Mars Climate Orbiter is scheduled to
occur aboard a Boeing Delta II (7425) rocket on Dec. 10, 1998.

When it first arrives at the red planet, the Mars Climate Orbiter will be
used primarily to support its companion Mars Polar Lander spacecraft,
planned for launch on Jan. 3, 1999. After that, the Mars Climate
Orbiter's instruments will monitor the Martian atmosphere and image the
planet's surface on a daily basis for one Martian year, the equivalent of
two Earth years. During this time, the spacecraft will observe the
appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as
characterize seasonal changes on the surface. The detailed images of the
surface features will provide important clues to the planet's early
climate history and give scientists more information about possible
liquid water reserves beneath the surface.

The spacecraft is to be readied for launch in NASA's Spacecraft Assembly
and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2) located in the KSC Industrial Area.
Among the processing activities to be performed in this clean room
facility are a functional test of the science instruments and the basic
spacecraft subsystems.

Checks of the communications system will be performed including a
verification of the spacecraft's ability to send data via the tracking
stations of the Deep Space Network to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
in Pasadena, Calif. and the Lockheed Martin plant in Denver, Colo.

Following these checks, the spacecraft will be fueled with the spacecraft
bipropellants of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide and mated to a Star 48
solid propellant upper stage booster. Finally, the combined spacecraft
and upper stage elements will undergo spin balance testing.

Meanwhile, at Launch Complex 17, the Delta II rocket will be undergoing
erection and prelaunch checkout by Boeing on Pad A. The first stage is
scheduled to be installed into the launcher on Oct. 29. Four solid rocket
boosters will be attached around the base of the first stage on Nov. 2.
The second stage will be mated atop the first stage on Nov. 4, and the
fairing will be hoisted into the clean room of the pad's mobile service
tower Nov. 6.

The Mars Climate Orbiter with its upper stage booster will be transported
to Complex 17 on Nov. 30 for hoisting atop the Delta and mating to the
second stage. After the spacecraft undergoes a state of health check the
next day, the two halves of the fairing will be placed around it on Dec.
3. Finally, there will be a mission dress rehearsal.

At liftoff, the spacecraft will weigh 1,418 pounds (3,120 kilograms). It
is 7.6 feet (25 meters) high, 6.4 feet (21 meters) deep, and 5.4 feet (18
meters) wide. Power is provided by a single large solar array which is
18.6 feet (61 meters) long and 6.8 feet (22 meters) across. After
cruising in space for 286 days, the spacecraft will be captured in an
elliptical orbit around Mars.

The eight-day primary launch period to achieve an optimum cruise phase
and Mars planetary encounter begins with an instantaneous launch window
at 1:56 p.m. EST, Dec. 10. There are two instantaneous windows each day.
A secondary six-day period of launch opportunity begins Dec. 18. The last
day available for launch is Dec. 25.

The 1998 Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions are managed
by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo.
which built and operates the spacecraft, is JPL's industrial partner in
the mission.

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