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STEREO spacecraft begin Florida launch preparations APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY NEWS RELEASE Posted: May 3, 2006 NASA's nearly identical twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft, designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., arrived today in Florida for final pre-launch testing and preparations. Once in orbit, the observatories will capture the first-ever 3-D "stereo" views of the sun and solar wind.
STEREO recently completed five months of space-environment tests at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., and at APL. These tests simulated conditions the observatories will undergo during launch and their two-year space-based operations. Throughout the next few months, the twin observatories will undergo final checks of the spacecraft systems and instruments before they're loaded onto the launch vehicle. Mission operations personnel and engineers will rehearse the launch countdown and participate in mission simulations of critical STEREO operations. Both spacecraft will be transported to the launch complex and loaded onto the Delta II approximately two weeks prior to launch. Mission operations personnel at APL will begin the final launch countdown 12 hours before launch. STEREO's two-week launch window opens at 3:11 p.m. EDT on July 22 and extends through Aug. 6, 2006, with two opportunities for launch daily during that timeframe. During the two-year STEREO mission, the observatories will explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass ejections. These powerful solar eruptions are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and a key component of space weather, which can greatly affect satellite operations, communications, power systems, and the lives of humans in space.
STEREO's instruments were built by numerous organizations worldwide with a principal investigator, or PI, leading each instrument team. The instruments and PIs are as follows:
The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not for profit laboratory and division of The Johns Hopkins University. APL conducts research and development primarily for national security and for nondefense projects of national and global significance. APL is located midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in Laurel, Md. |
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The flight of Spacelab 3 aboard Challenger in April/May 1985 was a week-long scientific research mission using a laboratory tucked in the shuttle's payload bay. Experiments focused on material and fluid behaviors in weightlessness, plus observations of monkeys in the lab. The crew also watched amazing auroral displays over Earth. This post-flight crew film shows the highlights of STS-51B and includes remarkable views out the shuttle cockpit window during launch showing the Chesapeake Bay, New York City and Cape Cod as Challenger soared up the eastern seaboard.
Discovery launched April 12, 1985 on the STS-51D mission. A U.S. military communications satellite, known as Leasat 3, failed to activate after its deployment from the payload bay. That set the stage for a spacewalk -- the shuttle program's first unplanned EVA -- to attach handcrafted "Flyswatter" objects on the shuttle robotic arm to hit a timing switch on the satellite. The rescue attempt did not succeed. Upon landing at Kennedy Space Center, Discovery blew a tire. The crew, including Senator Jake Garn of Utah, narrate this post-flight film of highlights from the week-long mission.
NASA managers hold this news conference April 28 to give an update on plans for the next space shuttle mission, the ongoing external fuel tank testing and debates over further modifications.
The Boeing Delta 2 rocket carrying the CALIPSO and CloudSat atmospheric research spacecraft lifts off at 3:02 a.m. local time April 28 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external fuel tank for the STS-121 space shuttle mission is hoisted into position for attachment with the twin solid rocket boosters atop a mobile launch platform. The tank, ET-119, will carry the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to feed Discovery's three main engines during launch.
In preparation for space shuttle Discovery's departure from its Orbiter Processing Facility hangar for rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building and mating with the tank and boosters, the ship's 60-foot long payload bay doors are swung shut.
Take a virtual ride aboard the Russian Progress 21P cargo freighter as it docks with the International Space Station. This movie captures the final approach and successful linkup from a camera on the Progress craft's nose.
