The fury of Hurricane Frances put a Boeing Delta 2 launch on hold and prompted extensive inspections, but pre-flight preparations are resuming for the rocket's mission to haul a replacement Global Positioning System satellite into space.

File image of a Delta 2 rocket at pad 17B. Photo: NASA-KSC

The rocket weathered the hurricane's powerful winds and heavy rains atop pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, where the booster was being readied for liftoff September 22.

In advance of the Labor Day weekend blast from Frances, crews secured the rocket inside its mobile gantry. The Cape was closed and workers living along the coast evacuated.

Once the storm cleared, inspections began immediately to check the rocket's condition. Initial looks revealed no major problems, but additional tests on four of the Delta 2's nine strap-on solid rocket motors are continuing.

"For the past few weeks, the Boeing Delta 2 launch vehicle carrying the Lockheed Martin-built GPS 2R-13 spacecraft has been maintained in a 'hurricane safing' status at SLC-17B," Lt. Col. Gregory J. Schiller, manager of the Delta 2 launch program at the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center told Spaceflight Now.

"Following a thorough inspection of the launch vehicle and ground support equipment, no significant damage to any launch asset has been identified. As such, Boeing and Lockheed Martin were given the clearance to resume normal operations and is currently targeting a new launch date of October 8."

Officials were concerned about potential water intrusion and damage from flying debris. Inspections performed by the Air Force, the Boeing launch team and the company's design engineering personnel flown to Florida from California found no damage of any significance.

"Witness paint" applied to the solid rocket motors to indicate impacts during vehicle handling and processing revealed that four boosters received minor debris hits during Frances.

A "mechanical impedance analysis" is being performed on the boosters to verify their health, Schiller said. For now, officials don't believe the boosters will need replacing.

"Early indications would say no, but we will know for certain once the (mechanical impedance analysis) inspections are complete."

The GPS spacecraft had been undergoing its routine pre-flight processing inside a separate facility at Cape Canaveral. As a hurricane precaution, workers placed the satellite back into its shipping container to ride out the storm. Post-Frances checks have shown the satellite to be healthy.

"The launch team is moving forward with pre-launch preparations that include testing the launch vehicle's electrical, propulsion and mechanical systems and fueling the spacecraft prior to mating with the third stage," Schiller said.

The GPS satellite and attached solid-fuel third stage will be transported to the launch pad later this month for mounting atop the Delta 2 rocket.

Liftoff on October 8 would occur during the day's 29-minute launch window that extends from 3:36 to 4:05 a.m. EDT.

This will be the third of three GPS launches planned in 2004. The new satellites replenish the military's navigation network by replacing older craft.

Meanwhile, the Delta 2 launch of NASA's gamma-ray burst detection spacecraft, called Swift, originally targeted for October 7 has been pushed back to late October because of Hurricane Frances. Stacking of that rocket on pad 17A, once set to begin September 1, is expected to start next week.

Swift was inside the Cape's Hangar AE cleanroom during the storm.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-12 QT
VIDEO: LIFTOFF AS SEEN FROM PRESS SITE QT
SUBSCRIBE NOW