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NASA Pushes Back New Millennium ST5 Launch To March 14
Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) March 2, 2006 NASA said it has rescheduled the launch of is Science Technology 5 mission, which will carry three tiny satellites aboard a Pegasus expendable lift vehicle, due to an access conflict at the Air Force's western rocket range at Vandenberg. Technicians have reviewed the data from the ST5 spacecraft's separation system and have determined it will function as designed, the space agency said in a statement Thursday. The launch originally was scheduled for March 11. The Lockheed L-1011 aircraft that will carry the rocket and its payload is set to arrive at Vandenberg on March 6. The Pegasus/ST5 will be transported to the runway and mated to the L-1011 on March 10. Engineers will perform an integrated launch vehicle/spacecraft combined systems test and an ST5 state-of-health test on March 11. The launch window on March 14 runs from 5:57:31 a.m. Pacific Time to 7:19:50 a.m., and the targeted drop time is 6:02 a.m. PST. Part of a series of space-technology-demonstration spacecraft commissioned by NASA's New Millennium Program, the ST5 mission will place three micro-satellites into different low Earth orbits. Each satellite will map the intensity and direction of the magnetic fields within the planet's inner magnetosphere. Scientists hope to study this region to learn more about how solar flares and other space weather can disrupt global communication, navigation and power systems. Managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the mission is scheduled to operate in space for at least 90 days. Pegasus is an air-launched, internally guided, three-stage solid-fueled rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The rocket is capable of launching up to 1,000 lbs. into low Earth orbit. It was developed to provide cost-effective access to space for technology demonstration, scientific investigation, remote sensing and communications missions. Mated to its L-1011 carrier and dropped at an altitude of approximately 38,000 feet, the vehicle free-falls for approximately five seconds before firing its first-stage rocket motor. A typical flight from drop to insertion into orbit takes approximately 11 minutes. Pegasus has conducted 36 missions to date, launching more than 70 satellites from six different locations worldwide. Pegasus also will launch NASA's ST8 mission into orbit. Currently in development by Orbital, the ST8 mission will test four payload experiments for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission is scheduled for 2009. Related Links Orbital Sciences Goddard Space Flight Center
MOD Appoints QinetiQ To Demonstrate Advanced Radar Targeting System
London, UK (SPX) Feb 28, 2006The Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to QinetiQ to demonstrate the advanced targeting capability offered by Electronically Scanned (E-Scan) radar technology. QinetiQ has teamed with SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems and BAE Systems Customer Solutions & Support to integrate an Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) on a Tornado GR4A for assessment by the RAF in 2007. |
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