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Titan 4 rocket launch postponed into September BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: August 19, 2003 The deployment of a top-secret reconnaissance spacecraft by a $500 million Titan 4 rocket is being delayed again -- to early September -- because of issues with the launcher and its clandestine cargo.
Officials are looking at September 6 as the new launch date. However, the next launch opportunity will be based on Range availability and resolution of the new problems. The Air Force said a combination of glitches with the Titan 4 and the classified National Reconnaissance Office payload forced this delay. The Titan problem stems from erratic readings given by the rocket's second stage fuel tank sensor. Lockheed Martin said the sensor is a probe-like device on the fuel tank. Troubleshooting is underway to understand the situation and narrow the scope in the search to find the cause. "They are now mapping out how to go tackle the problem," Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Julie Andrews said. "It is a disappointment. The Titan team had been working awfully hard after the leak delay," Andrews said. "There was just no room to go troubleshoot and start the countdown tomorrow." The rocket's first and second stages have been fully loaded with Aerozine 50 fuel -- a mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethyl-hydrazine -- and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. It is too soon to know if the propellants will have to be offloaded to fix the sensor problem, officials said. As to be expected, details on the payload's problem are being kept quiet. "The status of the payload is not releasable due to its classified nature," the Air Force said in a statement. This delay is likely to have a ripple effect that will be felt at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The West Coast site is readying a Titan 2 rocket to launch the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F16 spacecraft on September 14. But officials said last week that the military weather satellite wouldn't be fueled until after the Titan 4 successfully flew from Cape Canaveral. That fueling operation was scheduled for August 25. Program officials require a few weeks of separation between Titan missions. As of late Tuesday, however, there was no formal decision to delay the DSMP launch. The spacecraft was delivered to the launch pad and mounted atop the Titan 2 vehicle last week.
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Flight data file Vehicle: Titan 4B (B-36) Payload: Classified Launch date: Sept. 8, 2003 Launch period: 7:45 p.m. to 3:45 a.m. EDT (2345-0745 GMT) Launch site: Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida Satellite broadcast: None Pre-launch briefing Launch timeline - Chart with times and descriptions of events to occur during the launch. Weather forecast - The latest forecast for launch day conditions. Launch hazard area - A map of the restricted area during liftoff. Titan 4B - Description of rocket being used in this launch. Titan 4 history - Chart with listing of previous Titan 4 flights. Titan 4 directory - See our coverage of previous Titan 4 rocket flights. Soviet Space For the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Viking patch This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Apollo 7 DVD For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Gemini 12 Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program's efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide |
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