[meteorite-list] Deep Impact Arrives in Florida to Prepare For Launch

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Oct 18 12:56:55 2004
Message-ID: <200410181656.JAA11114_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/2004/80-04.htm

For Release: October 18, 2004

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington D.C.
(Phone: 202/358-1727)

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

D.C. Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(Phone: 818/393-9011)

KSC RELEASE NO. 80-04

DEEP IMPACT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA TO PREPARE FOR LAUNCH

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has arrived in Florida to begin final
preparations for a launch on Dec. 30, 2004. 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 has begun its journey to comet Tempel 1," said Rick
Grammier, Deep Impact project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. "First to Florida, then to space, and then to the comet
itself. It will be quite a journey and one which we can all witness
together."

The Deep Impact spacecraft is designed to launch a copper projectile
into the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83
million miles from Earth. When this 820-pound "impactor" hits the
surface of the comet at approximately 23,000 miles per hour, the 3-by-3
foot projectile will create a crater several hundred feet in size. Deep
Impact's "flyby" spacecraft will collect pictures and data of the event.
 It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep
Space Network. Professional and amateur astronomers on Earth will also
be able to observe the material flying from the comet's newly formed
crater, adding to the data and images collected by the Deep Impact
spacecraft and other telescopes. Tempel 1 poses no threat to Earth in
the foreseeable future.

Today at Astrotech, Deep Impact is being removed from its shipping
container, the first of the numerous milestones to prepare it for
launch. Later this week, the spacecraft begins functional testing to
verify its state of health after the over-the-road journey from
Colorado. This will be followed by loading updated flight software and
beginning a series of Mission Readiness Tests. These tests involve the
entire spacecraft flight system that includes the flyby and impactor, as
well as the associated science instruments and the spacecraft's basic
subsystems.

Next, the high gain antenna used for spacecraft communications will be
installed. The solar array will then be stowed and an illumination test
performed as a final check of its performance. Next, Deep Impact will
be ready for fueling preparations. Once this is complete, the
2,152-pound spacecraft will be mated atop the upper stage booster, the
Delta rocket's third stage. The integrated stack will be installed into
a transportation canister in preparation for going to the launch pad in
mid-December.

Once at the pad and hoisted onto the Boeing Delta II rocket, a brief
functional test will be performed to re-verify spacecraft state of
health. Next will be an integrated test with the Delta II before
installing the fairing around the spacecraft.

Deep Impact mission scientists are confident such an intimate glimpse
beneath the surface of a comet, where material and debris from the
formation of the Solar System remain relatively unchanged, will answer
basic questions about the formation of the Solar System and offer a
better look at the nature and composition of these celestial wanderers.

Launch aboard the Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled to occur on Dec.
30, 2004 from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The launch window extends from 2:39 - 3:19 p.m. EST.

The overall Deep Impact mission management for this Discovery class
program is conducted by the University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Deep Impact project management is by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif. The spacecraft has been built for NASA by Ball
Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. The spacecraft/launch vehicle
integration and launch countdown management are the responsibility of
the Launch Services Program office headquartered at Kennedy Space
Center.

Photos of Deep Impact's arrival and processing can be found at the
following URL. Additional photos will be added to the page as they
occur.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=126


-end-
Received on Mon 18 Oct 2004 12:56:48 PM PDT