The Solar Orbiter spacecraft was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing Jan. Teams will transfer the spacecraft - inside the Atlas 5’s aerodynamic shroud - to pad 41 in the coming days for lifting atop the Atlas 5 rocket inside the VIF. Solar Orbiter was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s 4-metre-diameter (13.1-foot) payload fairing 20 January at the Astrotech payload processing facility in nearby Titusville. The Atlas 5 returned to the Vertical Integration Facility, or VIF, south of pad 41 Saturday, where ULA crews will ready the rocket for attachment of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Teams reconnected the umbilical between the Atlas 5 and its mobile launch pad after determining that gusty winds likely dislodged the duct.Īfter returning the Atlas 5 rocket to pad 41 Thursday, ULA completed the countdown demonstration Friday, loading super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the launcher. ULA rolled the Atlas 5 rocket back to its vertical hangar for inspections. The wet dress rehearsal is a pre-launch demonstration in which ground teams load liquid propellants into the rocket, and serves as a check of the readiness of the Atlas 5 rocket, and a practice run for ULA’s launch team. The two-day launch delay was expected after ULA teams discovered an air conditioning duct leading to the Atlas 5’s Centaur upper stage became disconnected Wednesday before a planned wet dress rehearsal at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad. □Launch update: & confirm #SolarOrbiter launch date adjusted to 7 Feb 23:15 EST/ 8 Feb 04:15 GMT/05:15 CET due to rescheduling of the Wet Dress Rehearsal earlier this week. The Solar Orbiter mission has a 19-day launch opportunity in February - beginning 5 February - to put the spacecraft on a trajectory to reach Venus in December, when the probe will use the planet’s gravity to slingshot into an orbit closer to the Sun. on 8 February (0415-0615 GMT on 8 February). EST on 7 February and extends to 1:15 a.m. The new Solar Orbiter launch window opens at 11:15 p.m. The European Space Agency, which leads the Solar Orbiter mission in partnership with NASA, announced the two-day delay on Sunday. Officials have delayed the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with the European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft from Cape Canaveral by two days to 7 February, a ripple effect from time spent fixing a minor issue last week during a launch vehicle countdown dress rehearsal. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket - seen without the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on top - completed a practice countdown at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Friday, Jan.
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