From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Wed Jul 21 2004 - 07:26:52 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: MESSENGER News<mailto:MESSENGER-News_at_APLMSG.JHUAPL.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 12:35 PM
Subject: Next Stop: Launch Pad
MESSENGER Mission News
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Next Stop: The Launch Pad
The MESSENGER spacecraft is now firmly attached to the third stage of its Delta II launch vehicle. In this week's Webcam image<http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/webcam/annotatedimages/annotated-20040719.html>, the spacecraft is being carefully lowered onto the Delta's third stage, in anticipation of the launch period that opens at 2:16 a.m. (EDT) on August 2. MESSENGER is attached to the rocket with a two-piece clamp band (also known as a Marmon clamp) and will detach when the spacecraft is launched and on the way to its first planetary flyby.
The Delta II 7925-H (heavy lift) model is the largest allowed for NASA Discovery-class missions. It features a liquid-fueled first stage with nine strap-on solid boosters, a second-stage liquid-fueled engine and a third-stage solid-fuel rocket. With a propellant made mainly of ammonium perchlorate, the third stage provides the final boost (nearly 15,000 pounds of thrust) that sends MESSENGER into its heliocentric (Sun-centered) orbit - and on track to return to Earth for a flyby next summer. After the rocket's fuel is spent, a pyrotechnic "bolt cutter" drives a blade through the 5/16-inch diameter bolts that secure the clamp band, releasing the spacecraft.
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Live from Kennedy Space Center: MESSENGER Webcast!
Want to know what it takes to send a spacecraft to Mercury? Wonder what scientists hope to learn about the Sun's closest neighbor? MESSENGER team members will answer your questions about the spacecraft, mission design and science goals next week during live Webcasts on NASA Direct!
At 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 29, Project Scientist Ralph McNutt<http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/nasadirect/elv/messenger/mcnutt.htm> will discuss and answer questions about MESSENGER's science and technology. On Friday, July 30 -- also at 2 p.m. EDT -- MESSENGER Mission Systems Engineer James Leary<http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/nasadirect/elv/messenger/leary.htm> will cover the first spacecraft designed to orbit Mercury, as well as its journey to the innermost planet.
The Webcast question boards are open until Monday, July 26. For spacecraft and mission questions, visit http://webcast.ksc.nasa.gov/vidapp/?event=44 For more information on the Webcasts, visit the NASA Direct! home page at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/nasadirect/index.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury, and the first NASA mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington<http://carnegieinstitution.org/>, leads the mission as principal investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory <http://www.jhuapl.edu/>in Laurel, Maryland, built and will operate the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages the Discovery<http://discovery.nasa.gov/>-class mission for NASA<http://www.nasa.gov/>.
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: Wed Jul 21 2004 - 07:36:28 PDT
July 20, 2004
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
The next major activity is the encapsulation of the spacecraft and third stage in a "can" for the 22-mile trip to the launch site on a wheeled transporter. Because the transporter must make the journey at only 5 miles per hour, the trip will be done at night when roads can be closed. When the transporter arrives at the launch pad, the can will be hoisted to the top and the third stage and spacecraft assembly will be attached to the Delta II rocket.
Click below for short time-lapse movies of the "mating" to the third stage:
Small (high quality) <http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/DMOVIES/20040712-Delta_Upper_Stage_(High_Quality)-q100-352x240.mpg>
Large (high quality)<http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/DMOVIES/20040712-Delta_Upper_Stage_(High_Quality)-q100-704x480.mpg>
Small (lower quality) <http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/DMOVIES/20040712-Delta_Upper_Stage_(Low_Quality)-q10-352x240.mpg>
Large (lower quality) <http://cps.earth.northwestern.edu/DMOVIES/20040712-Delta_Upper_Stage_(Low_Quality)-q10-704x480.mpg>
Have a science and technology question? Visit http://webcast.ksc.nasa.gov/vidapp/?event=43
For more information, visit http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
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