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BY JUSTIN RAY Follow the countdown and launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket with the U.S. military's Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment (MiTEx) spacecraft. Reload this page for the very latest on the mission.
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1540 GMT (11:40 a.m. EDT) The latest weather forecast predicts an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff during today's available window extending from 5:34 to 9:34 p.m. EDT. See the full forecast here.
1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT) The gantry was used to stack the multi-stage vehicle atop the pad's launch mount, attach the nine strap-on solid motors and hoist the payloads aboard the rocket. The tower also provided the primary weather protection and worker access to the rocket during its stay on the oceanside complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The next several hours will be spent putting the final touches on the vehicle, configuring launch pad equipment and securing the complex. The Terminal Countdown begins at 2:54 p.m. EDT, followed about 20 minutes later by fueling the first stage with kerosene propellant. Liquid oxygen starts flowing into the first stage just after 4 p.m.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 Liftoff of the Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment, or MiTEx, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida remains targeted for 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT). "We just came out of the Launch Readiness Review. We're working no issues," Rick Navarro, the Boeing flight director, said in an interview a short time ago. "We're getting ready to do the final vehicle closeouts this afternoon, and (we'll) come back early in the morning and move the tower and start the count. At this point, it has been very smooth and we're working no issues. We even have some favorable weather for tomorrow." Retraction of mobile service gantry from around the rocket is expected no earlier than 7 a.m. The Terminal Countdown begins at 2:54 p.m. in advance of fueling the vehicle's first stage with a highly fined kerosene propellant and supercold liquid oxygen. The day's available launch window extends four hours, an exceptionally lengthy period to get the rocket airborne. However, the usable portion of the window shrinks to 60 minutes once the liquid oxygen loading process begins. "We get approximately 60 minutes. We'll get the best 60 out of that four-hour window. But the decision is made once we start flowing liquid oxygen into the vehicle," Navarro explained. "We will have a weather briefing just before loading liquid oxygen and we'll also look at all of the mission issues. If we aren't working anything related to weather or technical issues, then we'll target the first hour of that four-hour window." Liquid oxygen is scheduled to start flowing shortly after 4 p.m. in preparation for liftoff at 5:34 p.m. That would result in the window stretching to roughly 6:34 p.m., given the limiting factors involved. But if the launch team is wrestling with a technical glitch or weather conditions appear unfavorable, managers can delay the start of liquid oxygen loading until later in the day and re-target liftoff for sometime deeper into the window. The rare long window gives the launch team a healthy amount of margin to deal with unexpected problems that could crop up. And it comes in handy since this mission has to fly either Wednesday or Thursday, otherwise MiTEx must stand down until after next week's Delta 4 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Navarro said. The Delta 4 will loft a classified national security reconnaissance spacecraft next Tuesday. The days between MiTEx and the Delta 4 flights will allow about 60 managers and technicians currently involved in the Cape launch to get in position for the Vandenberg mission. Also, engineers will be reviewing telemetry received from the MiTEx launch to ensure common systems shared between the Delta 2 and Delta 4 rockets worked properly. "We need those few days to exonerate (common components)...and make sure (a system) is not telling us something that would make us pause for the next launch," Navarro said.
1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT) Meteorologists continue to predict a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather for the launch. The updated forecast that was issued this morning is available here. Watch this page for a full countdown preview after the readiness review concludes.
MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2006 Meanwhile, Boeing has provided further details on the reason why launch slipped from Tuesday to Wednesday. "During installation of the protective payload fairing, technicians noted a potential for interference between internal components on the fairing and part of the vehicle. Mission teams established the required clearances in the area of concern on June 16, and the payload fairing was successfully installed on June 17. Final vehicle preparations are underway to support the new MiTEx launch date and time of June 21, 5:34 EDT, from Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station."
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FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006 Wednesday's weather forecast predicts a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2006 The Micro-Satellite Technology Experiment, or MiTEx for short, is slated for liftoff at 5:34 p.m. EDT (2134 GMT). A four-hour launch window is available through 9:34 p.m. EDT (0134 GMT). "MiTEx will investigate and demonstrate advanced space technologies such as lightweight power and propulsion systems, avionics and spacecraft structures; commercial-off-the-shelf processors; affordable, responsive fabrication/build-to-launch techniques; and single-string components," DARPA officials explained in mission information provided to Spaceflight Now. Read our launch preview story. |
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