Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch To Be Delayed
Launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be delayed from late this year until early next year, NASA announced.
The LRO will swap places with a United Launch Alliance liftoff, a deal that gives the LRO more than twice as many potential launch dates.
As now planned, the LRO will head for the moon in a launch window opening Feb. 27 and lasting about a month.
In that window, LRO will have 18 days with launch potential, rather than only eight days in its old window.
The LRO mission to orbit the moon will be the first step in NASA plans to have a manned mission to the moon around 2020, with a permanent lunar encampment years later, and then at some still later time a mission to Mars.
A picture of the LRO mission was painted by John Keller, Gordon Chin and Thomas Morgan at Goddard Space Flight Center.
LRO will head to the moon on a fact-finding mission. It will find safe landing sites on the lunar surface, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and demonstrate new technology.
The spacecraft will be placed in low polar orbit (50 km) for a one-year mission under NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.
LRO will return data about the moon, such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high resolution color imaging and more.
There will be particular emphasis on the polar regions of the moon where continuous access to sunlight may be possible and the prospect of water in the permanently shadowed regions at the poles may exist.
Although objectives of LRO are explorative in nature, the payload includes instruments with considerable heritage from previous planetary science missions, enabling transition to a science phase under the Science Mission Directorate.
Tomahawk Block IV Missile Aces Test
A Tomahawk Block IV missile aced a test where it launched from a Ticonderoga Class Navy cruiser and flew 500 miles to hit its target, Raytheon Co. [RTN] announced.
This was the 13th consecutive successful test of the Tomahawk Block IV. Seven were from a submarine, and six from a surface vessel.
Tomahawk Block IV is a surface- and submarine-launched precision strike stand-off weapon designed for long-range precision strike missions against high-value and heavily defended targets.
The missile has a two-way satellite data link that enables it to respond to changing battlefield conditions. For example, the strike controller can divert the missile in flight to preprogrammed alternate targets or redirect it to a new target.
The controller also can command the Tomahawk Block IV missile to loiter over the battlefield until a target is identified and direct it to the target.
As well, the missile can transmit battle damage imagery and missile telemetry information via the satellite data link.
Excalibur Projectile Passes Test With New Base, Recorder; Fins Deploy Properly
The Excalibur precision-guided artillery projectile, with a new low-cost titanium base and on-board recorder, performed well in a test firing, with fins deploying properly, Raytheon Co. [RTN] announced.
That new base design can accommodate base burn propellant. The propellant and the projectile’s aerodynamic profile significantly increase Excalibur’s range.
During the test fire, the projectiles flew stable flights, and the stowed fins successfully deployed after clearing the gun. The tests demonstrated the fins’ structural integrity and ability to synchronously deploy and lock.
The test flight also validated effectiveness of the recorder. It tracked projectile acceleration and roll rates inside the gun tube, after the round exited the tube, and during flight.
Eumetsat Taps Arianespace To Launch MSG-4 Satellite
Eumetsat chose Arianespace to launch a satellite, Arianespace announced.
Either an Ariane 5 heavy lifter or a Soyuz spaceship will hoist the MSG-4 meteorological observation satellite to orbit from a launch in Kourou, French Guiana, South America, in the first half of 2013.
This is the tenth Eumetsat satellite that Arianespace will launch. Arianespace already launched the MSG-1 and MSG-2 satellites, and will launch MSG-3 in 2010.
Built by Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, MSG-4 will weigh about 2,000 kg (4,409 pounds) at launch.
It will have 12 channels, and is capable of transmitting images every 15 minutes. MSG-4 will ensure continuity of European meteorological services, and will provide data needed for weather forecasting and climate/environment monitoring in Europe and neighboring continents.
NASA’s Shuttle and Rocket Missions
Updated — July 25, 2008 – 4 p.m. EDT
Legend: + Targeted For | *No Earlier Than (Tentative) | **To Be Determined
2008 Launches
Date: October +
Mission: TacSat-3
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Minotaur Rocket
Launch Site: Wallops Flight Facility – Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: NASA will support the Air Force launch of the TacSat-3 satellite, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate. TacSat-3 will demonstrate the capability to furnish real-time data to the combatant commander. NASA Ames will fly a microsat and NASA Wallops will fly the CubeSats on this flight in addition to providing the launch range.
Date: Oct. 5
Mission: IBEX
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL Rocket
Launch Site: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll
Launch Window: 12:36 – to 12:43 p.m. EDT
Description: IBEX’s science objective is to discover the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium and will achieve this objective by taking a set of global energetic neutral atom images that will answer four fundamental science questions.
Date: Oct. 8 +
Mission: STS-125
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 1:34 a.m. EDT
Description: Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities through 2013.
Date: Nov. 10 +
Mission: STS-126
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space Shuttle Endeavour launching on assembly flight ULF2, will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station.
Date: Nov. 20 *
Mission: STSS Demonstrators Program – Missile Defense Agency
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17, Pad A
Description: STSS Demonstrators Program is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator and is part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors and interceptors. To be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency.
Date: **
Mission: SDO
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41
Description: The first Space Weather Research Network mission in the Living With a Star (LWS) Program of NASA.
Date: Dec. 16 *
Mission: GOES-O
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 37
Description: NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science.
2009 Launches
Date: Jan. 15
Mission: OCO
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E
Description: The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is a new Earth orbiting mission sponsored by NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.
Date: Feb. 4
Mission: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2
Description: NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting satellite developed by NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon satellite, to ensure every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. NOAA-N will collect information about Earth’s atmosphere and environment to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe.
Date: Feb. 12 +
Mission: STS-119
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Discovery launching on assembly flight 15A, will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station.
Date: Feb. 16
Mission: Kepler
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17 – Pad 17-B
Description: The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.
Date: Feb. 27 *
Mission: LRO/LCROSS
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41
Description: LRO will launch with the objectives to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology. The Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite mission is seeking a definitive answer about the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon’s North or South Pole.
Date: April 30
Mission: STSS ATRR – Missile Defense Agency
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2
Description: STSS ATRR serves as a pathfinder for future launch and mission technology for the Missile Defense Agency. To be launched by NASA for the MDA.
Date: May 15 +
Mission: STS-127
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the exposed facility of Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.
Date: June 15
Mission: Glory
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E
Description: The Glory Mission will help increase our understanding of the Earth’s energy balance by collecting data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere and how the Sun’s irradiance affects the Earth’s climate.
Date: July 30 +
Mission: STS-128
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Atlantis will use a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to carry experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.
Date: Sept. 15 *
Mission: Mars Science Laboratory
Description: The Mars Science Laboratory is a rover that will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life and to determine the planet’s habitability.
Date:Oct. 15 +
Mission: STS-129
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Discovery will deliver components including two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station’s robotic arm to the International Space Station.
Date: November +
Mission: WISE
Description: The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) will survey the entire sky in the mid-infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission or program ever has. The WISE survey will consist of over a million images, from which hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued.
Date: Dec. 10 +
Mission: STS-130
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the final connecting node, Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the International Space Station.
2010 Launches
Date: Feb. 11 +
Mission: STS-131
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Atlantis will carry a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of the International Space Station.
Date: April 8 +
Mission: STS-132
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Discovery mission will carry an integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module.
Date: May 31 +
Mission: STS-133
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver critical spare components including antennas and gas tanks to the International Space Station.
Source: NASA