You are on page 1of 1

September 27, 2007 Vol. 12, No.

70

Dawn seeks secrets Discovery moves to pad


of the universe Saturday evening
Dawn Launch: The skies over beginning at 8 p.m. While on the pad, the time that President John F. Kennedy
Merritt Island should have rumbled after prime payload, the U.S. Node 2 module toured the Launch Operations Center with
7:20 a.m. today as the Dawn spacecraft (called Harmony) will be installed in Dis- Dr. Kurt Debus, first center director, on
was launched aboard a Delta II rocket. At covery's payload bay from the payload Sept. 11, 1962. The display case is located
press time late Wednesday, there was a changeout room in the rotating service between rooms 1533 and 1537 in the east
chance of coastal showers. structure. Launch is still targeted for Oct. wing of the Headquarters Building across
At the moment of liftoff, the Delta II's 23 at 11:38 a.m. from the post office. Further information
first-stage main engine, along with six of may be obtained by calling the Library
its nine solid-fuel boosters, will ignite. NASA Update: On Oct. 4, NASA Archives at 867-2407.
The remaining three solids are ignited in TV will broadcast highlights of NASA
Administrator Michael Griffin's visit to The KSC Engineering Academy —
flight following the burnout of the first The KEA will host a discussion panel on
six. The first-stage main engine will burn Moscow and others attending events there
to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the History of Command & Control Sys-
for 4.4 minutes. The second stage will de- tems at KSC from 9 to 11 a.m. today at
posit Dawn in a 185-kilometer-high (100- U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations and the
50th anniversary of the launch of the first the KSC Training Auditorium. The focus
nautical-mile) circular parking orbit in just will be a technical discussion of KSC
under nine minutes. At about 56 minutes satellite, Sputnik 1. The events and
planned broadcasts include (all times ap- Command and Control Systems including
after launch, the rocket's third and final considerations for Commercial Off the
stage will ignite for approximately 87 sec- proximate, EDT):
Shelf (COTS), Launch Processing System
onds. When the third stage burns out, ac- Today: Noon – Video file of the Expedi- (LPS), Core Electronics Contract, Check-
tuators and push-off springs on the launch tion 16 crew and spaceflight participant out and Launch Control System (CLCS)
vehicle will separate the spacecraft from departure ceremony as they travel from and a trade study on the command and
the third stage. Russia to Baikonur to prepare for launch. control system approach for Constellation.
After separation at 62 minutes after The panel will be led by Ric Hurt, director
liftoff, the spacecraft will go through an 3 p.m. – Live coverage of the Expedi-
tion 15 Soyuz relocation (undocking is of Applied Technology. Other panelists
automatic activating sequence, including tentatively include Kirk Lougheed (LX),
stabilizing the spacecraft, activating flight scheduled at 3:18 p.m., redocking is
scheduled at 3:43 p.m.). Chris Best (USA), John Wilkinson (NE),
systems and deploying Dawn's two mas- Rick Dawson (NE), Rich Nelson (KT),
sive solar arrays. Then the spacecraft will Oct. 3: Noon – Video file of the arrival of Craig Jacobson (NE), Terri Herst (NE) and
energize its transmitter and contact Earth. the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight Lennis Beardon from Harris Corporation.
Acquisition of a signal is expected to oc- participant in Baikonur, and the Soyuz NASA and contractor personnel are in-
cur anywhere from one-and-a-half hours spacecraft fit check. vited to attend this event. If you have any
to three-and-a-half hours after launch. questions, please contact Gisele Altman,
Dawn will venture into the heart of Oct. 4: Noon – Video file of Sputnik 50th
anniversary events in Moscow and pre- gisele.altman-1@nasa.gov, 867-4000.
the asteroid belt, where it will document in
exceptional detail the mammoth rocky as- launch activities of the Expedition 16 crew Countdown is published every Tuesday & Thursday
teroid Vesta and then the even bigger, icy and spaceflight participant crew in for NASA KSC employees. Deadlines are
dwarf planet Ceres. Baikonur. 10 a.m. Mondays & Wednesdays. E-mail news to
anita.barrett@jbosc.ksc.nasa.gov. For questions or
Shuttle Update: At press time, KSC Library Archives Photo Dis- information, e-mail or call 321-867-2815. You can
space shuttle Discovery was scheduled to play Through Mid-October — The KSC also find Countdown on the Web at
roll out to Launch Pad 39A on Saturday, Library Archives has a new exhibit and is nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/countdown/cou
featuring the 45th anniversary of the first ntdown-toc.html.

www.nasa.gov

You might also like