ELV Status Report, 03-12-2003

SPACECRAFT AND EXPENDABLE VEHICLES STATUS REPORT
December 3, 2003

 

George H. Diller

NASA Kennedy Space Center

321-867-2468

                                       

MISSION: Gravity Probe B (GP-B)

LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II

LAUNCH PAD:  SLC-2, Vandenberg Air Force Base

LAUNCH DATE:  TBD

LAUNCH TIME:   TBD  

 

Gravity Probe B is in NASA spacecraft processing facility 1610 on North Vandenberg Air 
Force Base in California.  In preparation for the repair necessary to the spacecraft, 
the payload attach fitting was removed on Nov. 20.  The first of the four solar arrays 
was removed on Nov. 24, the second and third arrays were removed Nov. 25, and the last 
array was removed this week on Monday, Dec. 1. 

 

 A decision has been made that the cryogenic helium will not need to be offloaded from 
the spacecraft to remove the Experiment Control Unit (ECU) which is expected to occur 
late next week.  The return to the factory of the ECU is expected on or about Dec. 15. 
 Meanwhile, at Space Launch Complex 2, the Boeing Delta II rocket remains at the pad, 
enclosed within the gantry-like mobile service tower until the GP-B spacecraft 
arrives.  

 

While no new launch date has been established, a Flight Planning Board meeting is 
planned for mid-December, and the outcome could determine a possible target date or at 
least a new launch time frame.  

 

The Gravity Probe B mission is a relativity experiment developed by NASA's Marshall 
Space Flight Center, Stanford University and Lockheed Martin.  The spacecraft will 
test two extraordinary predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity 
that he advanced in 1916: the geodetic effect (how space and time are warped by the 
presence of the Earth) and frame dragging (how Earth's rotation drags space and time 
around with it).  Gravity Probe B consists of four sophisticated gyroscopes that will 
prov
ide an almost perfect space-time reference system.  The mission will look in a 
precision manner for tiny changes in the direction of spin.  Gravity Probe B will be 
launched into a 400-nautical-mile-high polar orbit for a 16-month mission. 

 

Government oversight of launch preparations and the countdown management on launch day 
is the responsibility of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center.  The launch service is 
provided to NASA by Boeing Launch Services.  

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Jacques :-)

Editor: www.spacepatches.info