VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the dual spacecraft CALIPSO and CloudSat, covered by a transport canister, is ready for lifting up into the mobile service tower. There the spacecraft will be mated with a Boeing Delta II rocket for launch on April 21. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. It will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems. Launch of CALIPSO/CloudSat is scheduled for April 21. KSC-06pd0676

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The Air Force Research Lab Munitions Directorate’s

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At right is the Delta II rocket on Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, that will launch Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) on June 5. In the center are three more solid rocket boosters that will be added to the Delta, which will carry nine in all. NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can’t yet go. MER-2 is scheduled to launch as MER-A. MER-1 (MER-B) will launch June 25.

Night time shots of Mate-Demate Device (MDD) with all the lights on (empty, no shuttle)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the United Launch Alliance Delta II heavy rocket that will launch NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft is rolled back around to the mobile service tower after the first launch attempt was scrubbed due to upper-level winds. GRAIL is scheduled for another launch attempt Sept.10 at 8:29:45 a.m. EDT. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. The aim is to map the moon's gravity field so completely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon’s surface. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/grail. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley KSC-2011-6852

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Another solid rocket booster is lifted up the tower on Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for mating with the Delta II rocket that will launch the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. The second stage will later be hoisted atop the first stage. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. KSC-03pd0647

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Ares I-X aft assembly moves away from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is going to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking to complete the Ares I-X test vehicle. The aft assembly will be the first segment to be stacked on the mobile launch platform in the VAB. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted no earlier than Aug. 30 from Launch Pad 39B. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-3901

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the dual spacecraft CALIPSO and CloudSat, covered by a transport canister, is ready for lifting up into the mobile service tower. There the spacecraft will be mated with a Boeing Delta II rocket for launch on April 21. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. It will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems. Launch of CALIPSO/CloudSat is scheduled for April 21. KSC-06pd0676

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Summary

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the dual spacecraft CALIPSO and CloudSat, covered by a transport canister, is ready for lifting up into the mobile service tower. There the spacecraft will be mated with a Boeing Delta II rocket for launch on April 21. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. It will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems. Launch of CALIPSO/CloudSat is scheduled for April 21.

date_range

Date

08/04/2006

place

Location

34.75086, -120.52053

create

Source

NASA

link

Link

https://images.nasa.gov/

Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

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