OT: Unacceptable winds scrubs Coriolis again; delays for ICESat/CHI

NOTE TO EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS AND WEATHER PERSONALITIES: Please read through entire text provided below for key CORRECTED/UPDATED information and Internet links to World Wide Web sites.

Jim Spellman
NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY
Western Spaceport Chapter
Tel/Fax: 760-379-2503
E-mail: WSpaceport@...
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www.nss.org

NSS/LaunchWatch

UPPER LEVEL WINDS ONCE AGAIN THWART CORIOLIS LAUNCH ATTEMPT
NASA's ICESat/CHIPSat launch may also be affected by mid-week Tomahawk missile test

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. The launch of a Titan II booster from Space Launch Complex-4 West here has been delayed due to unacceptable winds at high altitudes, which forced officials to scrub today's launch of the Titan 2 rocket carrying the U.S. military's Coriolis research satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The launch team was planning to hold the countdown to allow additional time to receive the latest weather balloon data on the winds in hopes of improving conditions aloft. But with three minutes left until the opening of the daily 15-minute launch window for this mission, the announcement came that winds remained "no go" for flight. The countdown was then halted for the day.

The joint government and industry project dubbed Coriolis will put the Navy Windsat Radiometer and an Air Force Solar Mass Ejection Imager in a low Earth, sun synchronous orbit.

The Windsat radiometer will provide meteorological information on wind speed and direction at or near the surface of the ocean and the Solar Mass Ejection Imager will provide early warning of coronal mass ejections that affect communications and power distribution systems on earth.

A sixth attempt to launch the $224 million mission is planned for 1418 GMT (6:18 a.m. PST) on Monday.

STATUS OF DELTA II-ICESat/CHIPSat "UP IN THE AIR(CRAFT)"

The upcoming scheduled mission of NASA's ICESat/CHIPSat *could* also be delayed by at least a day, due to the availability of the P-3 Orion downrange instrumentation aircraft from Pt. Magu Naval Air Station in Ventura County, CA.

The initial rescheduled date of January 10th (as originally provided by NASA Public Affairs) is for targeting purposes. Currently, the scheduling by the Western Test Range (WTR) has a firm agreement to support a Delta II launch on the 11th and 12th only -- based once again on firm availability of the P-3 Orion aircraft. The P-3's status will not be known until completion of its other prior commitments for a Tomahawk missile test -- scheduled for Wednesday, January 8th -- can be confirmed.

The UPDATED current launch window for CHIPSat is as follows:

If the Coriolis launch is successful on January 6th or 7th -- followed by the Tomahawk test on January 8th -- then that allows ICESat/CHIPSat launch attempts on January 10th through the12th. Please note that these new dates represent our best understanding of the launch schedule affecting ICESat/CHIPSat operations and do not represent an official NASA or USAF launch schedule.

The CHIPS (Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer) Spacecraft is a sophisticated, high performance 45 kg microsatellite designed and built by SpaceDev forthe University of California, Berkeley under aNASA-funded contract. The CHIPS mission is designed to study the formation of stars, and will have a life span of about one year.

CHIPSat will be the first mission ever to use end-to-end satellite operations over the internet with TCP/IP and FTP. This concept was analyzed and demonstrated by the NASA OMNI team via UoSat-12; however, SpaceDev will be the first to implement the concept as the only means of satellite communications.

SpaceDev has overall responsibility for the design of the mission, the design, assembly, integration and testing of the microsatellite, and mission control and operations from SpaceDev's Mission Control Center.

Liftoff of the Delta II will be from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC-2) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in northern Santa Barbara County, Calif. The 45-minute launch window extends from 4:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. PST.

NASA's Earth Science Enterprise spacecraft ICESat is a 661-pound satellite that will revolutionize our understanding of ice and its role in global climate change and how we protect and understand our home planet. It will help scientists determine if the global sea level is rising or falling. It will look at the ice sheets that blanket the Earth's poles to see if they are growing or shrinking. It will assist in developing an understanding of how changes in the Earth's atmosphere and climate effect polar ice masses and global sea level. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) is the sole instrument on the satellite.

ICESat will be launched into a polar orbit of 375 statute miles. It will be a benchmark for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) series of spacecraft, supporting other satellites in this series now in orbit, and will complement other EOS spacecraft currently under development.

CHIPSat, a suitcase-size 131-pound satellite, will provide invaluable information into the origin, physical processes and properties of the hot gas contained in the interstellar medium. This can provide important clues about the formation and evolution of galaxies since the interstellar medium literally contains the seeds of future stars. When the gas cools and collapses, the gas forms clumps that can evolve into stars and planets. One of the biggest puzzles in astrophysics is the process that turns this very diffuse, hot and cold gas and dust into stars. CHIPSat will be launched into a polar orbit of 350 statute miles.

LAUNCH ACCREDITATION

News media needing accreditation for the launch of ICESat/CHIPSat should fax their request on news organization letterhead to:

Public Affairs
NASA Resident Office
Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
FAX: 805/605-3380

Those who have already applied for accreditation prior to the first launch attempt in December need not reapply. Other accreditation requests to cover the launch should be received by Wednesday, Jan. 8. For further information on launch accreditation, contact George Diller in NASA Public Affairs at 321/867-2468 or Lt. Kelly Gabel in U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing Public Affairs at 805/606-3595.

PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE

The prelaunch news conference will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. PST in the main conference room of the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office, Building 840, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Remote question-and-answer capability will be available at NASA Headquarters, Kennedy Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center. Participants will be:

Chuck Dovale, NASA Launch Director
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Kris Walsh, Director of NASA Programs
Boeing Expendable Launch Systems

Dr. Waleed Abdalati, Program Executive for Cryospheric Sciences
NASA Headquarters

Dr. Mark Hurwitz, CHIPSat Principal Investigator
University of California at Berkley

Captain Scott Lisko, Launch Weather Officer, 30th Weather Squadron
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Media desiring to cover the prelaunch news conference should meet at the south gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base on California State Road 246 at 10:30 a.m. PST on Thursday, Jan. 9. They will be escorted to the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office in Building 840. A post-launch news conference will not be held. However, media will have the opportunity to interview vehicle and spacecraft officials after launch at the NASA Mission Director's Center in Building 840, if desired.

REMOTE CAMERA SETUP

Media desiring to establish sound-activated remote cameras at the launch pad will depart from the south gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12 noon PST on Thursday, Jan. 9, for SLC-2. Media should contact Lt. Kelly Gabel in the 30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office at 805/606-3595 no later than Wednesday, Jan. 8 to make the necessary arrangements.

LAUNCH DAY DELTA II PHOTO OPPORTUNITY AT SLC-2

There will be an opportunity to photograph the Boeing Delta II on the launch pad Friday morning, Jan. 10, after the gantry has been rolled back from around the vehicle. Media wishing to participate should meet at the Vandenberg Air Force Base main gate located on California State Road 1 at 7 a.m. PST to be escorted to the launch pad. The event will conclude at 8:30 a.m.

LAUNCH DAY PRESS COVERAGE

On launch day, media covering the liftoff should meet at the Vandenberg Air Force Base main gate located on California State Road 1 at 3:30 p.m. PST to be escorted to the press site located on north Vandenberg Air Force Base. After launch, media will be escorted back to the main gate or to the NASA Mission Director's Center in Building 840 for interviews, if desired.

NASA TELEVISION AND VOICE CIRCUIT COVERAGE

NASA TV will carry the prelaunch news conference starting at 11 a.m. PST on Thursday, Jan. 9. An ICESat/CHIPSat video package will be broadcast following the press conference.

On launch day, NASA TV coverage of the countdown will begin at 3 p.m. PST and conclude at L+90 minutes after both spacecraft have separated from the Delta II launch vehicle.

NASA TV is carried on GE-2, transponder 9C located at 85 degrees West longitude. Audio only will be available on the "V" circuit numbers that may be accessed directly by dialing 321/867- 1220, 1240, 1260, or 7135.

NASA TV coverage of the ICESat/CHIPSat launch will be webcast on the NASA-KSC Home Page at:

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

Choose "KSC Live Video Feeds" followed by "NASA Television Coverage."

NASA ICESAT/CHIPSAT NEWS CENTER

The ICESat/CHIPSat News Center at the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office will be staffed beginning Wednesday, Jan. 8 and may be reached at 805/605-3051. A recorded status report will also be available at that time by dialing 805/734-2693.

Status reports and other launch information are available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/kscpao.htm

http://www.spaceflightnow.com

http://www.spaceref.tv

NASA MEDIA CONTACTS:

David Steitz/Nancy Neal
NASA Headquarters
202/358-1600

George H. Diller
NASA Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468

Lynn Chandler
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
301/286-2806

Keith Koehler
NASA Wallops Flight Facility
757/824-1579