New Horizons NASA's Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT January 12, 2006
MISSION: New Horizons LAUNCH VEHICLE: Lockheed Martin Atlas V 551 (AV-010) LAUNCH PAD: Complex 41 LAUNCH SITE: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida LAUNCH DATE: Jan. 17, 2006 LAUNCH WINDOW: 1:24 p.m. - 3:23 p.m.
The Flight Readiness Review was successfully completed Jan. 12 at the Kennedy Space Center. The launch of New Horizons remains scheduled for Jan. 17. The White House Office of Science Technology Policy has also given approval for the launch to proceed.
Final spacecraft closeouts are under way and will conclude Friday, Jan. 13. The payload test team will be conducting spacecraft electrical tests on Saturday, Jan. 14, and the fairing access doors will be closed for flight.
Rollout of the Atlas V from the Vertical Integration Facility is scheduled to occur at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 16. That afternoon, the storable RP-1 fuel will be loaded aboard the Atlas first stage tank.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 10:39 a.m., Pad 41 will be cleared of personnel in preparation for cryogenic fueling operations which are scheduled to begin at L-2 hours, or 11:24 a.m.
(From a Kennedy Space Center release, Status Report ELV-010606)