This is Delta Launch Control at T-62 minutes and counting, and I have with me John Calvert,
who is the mission integration manager for this flow. And John, welcome.
Hello. Welcome, Bruce. Thanks.
Thanks for coming and for being with us this morning for this launch at, coming up at 3:02 Pacific time.
We've got a tape we're going to play, and John, you're going to narrate that as we go through.
It's a vehicle flow tape, so let's roll that tape and we'll let you talk to it as it's playing.
Be happy to do that. Okay, here we, what we'll see first here are the two halves of the protective shroud
we call the fairing being wheeled out and readies for lifting on top of the mobile service tower, or MST, as we call it.
Even though they're the last thing to go on the rocket, they're lifted up and stored in the MST prior to
either the rocket being built up or the spacecraft arriving at the pad. It's a very delicate process. Nothing is done in a hurry.
A lot of eyeballs are watching from every direction to make sure that those fairing halves are not damaged during the hoisting operation.
There are actually several different configurations of fairings that can be used on a Delta II mission.
Our fairing is about 10 feet in diameter, so it's referred to as a 10-foot composite fairing, or 10c.
Other missions may utilize a 9-1/2 foot metallic fairing. There's also a stretched version of the 10-foot available, as well.
And the one spacecraft on our mission, CALIPSO, has very stringent cleanliness requirements,
so the fairing halves are cleaned to a very high level.
They're triple bagged, and stored and awaiting installation at the very end of the process.
Here's the final movement into the top of the MST tower for storage.
Here's the Delta II first stage, called the booster, being transported out.
It's in the horizontal position, hoisted to the vertical for installation in the launch mounts.
The first-stage booster houses the RS-27 main engine.
It's manufactured by Rocketdyne. Also houses the RP-1 fuel tank and the liquid oxygen tanks necessary to power that main engine.
Our first stage was actually assembled in Decatur, Alabama.
It was shipped down to the Cape in Florida for checkout and then ultimately shipped out here to Vandenberg launch site.
And build-up on the launch pad began last June, as a matter of fact. That's kind of an unusually long time to be on the pad.
Normally, it's about a 60-day flow from booster erection to launch, but we had some technical problems
conspiring against us to keep us on the ground here until now, but we've overcome those obstacles and we're now ready to go.
Here's a shot of the inner stage being raised and installed. It connects the Delta II first and second stages.
It's installed on the same day as the booster is erected. You can see that one's blowing a little bit,
looks like the wind picked up a little bit on that day.
Again, very careful to make sure that no damage occurs while it's being raised. It's about 150 feet to the top of the MST there,
to give you an idea how high from the ground up to that point. The Delta II,
it can actually be flown in various configurations of, we have three, four or nine solid motors.
These motors provide additional thrust to the booster during the first minute or so of launch.
They're jettisoned into the ocean shortly after their propellant is depleted.
And this particular mission, CALIPSO/CloudSat is augmented by four solid rocket motors.
So this will actually be the first time the four solid-motor configuration will be flown here from Vandenberg,
although it has flown many times from the Cape.
Here you see one of them actually being delicately lifted and installed on the vehicle.
What I don't believe is going to be shown is the video of the second stage being installed. But there is
a stage on top of the first and an interstage that contains the guidance control equipment, as well as the engine that is powered.
And here you see, I believe, the spacecraft stack, which consists of the CloudSat satellite encapsulated
within the deep aft structure. CALIPSO sitting on top of that.
Can't really see that here since they're all well protected by the transport can that's being built up
around them on the day before they leave for the pad. This occurred about two weeks ago.
We left the payload processing facility for mate to the launch vehicle. It's about a 1-1/2 mile drive out,
begins early in the morning and that's primarily because that's when weather conditions are most favorable,
and because there's a long day of work ahead of them.
Generally the temperature's mildest, winds are calmest in the early morning, which is necessary so we
don't overheat spacecraft or risk winds pushing the stack into the tower while it's being raised to the top.
I think you'll, you'll see some technicians checking clearances, making sure everything is as expected before removing the can sections.
And after-mate crews will work to reestablish any cooling or purge requirements that may have been interrupted during the transport.
And spacecraft teams also work to get their on-board batteries back plugged in and recharging,
and generally remove any protective bagging that's necessary for transport.
This final part of the video shows the, the fairing halves that were brought up in the beginning being
mated around the CALIPSO deep aft stack. This actually occurred about one week ago.
And at this point, most of the spacecraft protective covers are removed, so technicians are now suited
up in their clean-room garb, maintaining a clean environment as possible.
There's still some small doors on the fairing that each spacecraft can use for very limited access after the fairing is installed,
but for the most part, they're going to be buttoned up for final launch preparations. And I think the fairing,
it will actually protect the spacecraft for about the first five minutes of flight
before we're done with the fairing and it's jettisoned into the ocean.
Okay. So, that's all taken place now. We're sitting on the pad right now, poised to launch.
Everything's put together and everything's checked out. Actually, why don't you tell us,
give us a couple words on how things are actually going this morning with launch preparations.
So far, countdown is going relatively, very smoothly. We had an early concern with one of the weather balloons.
It registered high winds, but since that time they've sent up several more.
It looks like we're green across the board for weather for now.
It's been very little technical problems. Other than that, it's been very quiet. So we're in good shape.
Good. As you said, Delta II is a very versatile vehicle and we're actually launching two satellites on this one rocket.
Tell us about how complicated that kind of integration can be.
Well, it's very, I like the think that, for CALIPSO/CloudSat,
this is a culmination of years of hard work by hundreds of hundreds of people all around the world.
I'm all excited it's reached this point. As you said, it is two spacecraft.
I like to think that, you know, double the spacecraft you about quadruple the issues.
I mean, not only do you have the individual spacecraft working with the launch vehicle, but you also have to manage the
coordination between the two spacecraft. And I think as Jim Kennedy mentioned, and as we've talked about this,
this not only has multiple NASA center involvement but also the international partnership.
So the issues with, you know, the time difference between our friends in France,
on the East Coast Florida and the West Coast here at Vandenberg present some challenges of communication.
But all in all, you know, we've sacrificed a lot of long hours, we've been working this for many years
and we're really excited that we've reached here today and we're looking forward to a great launch in about an hour and a half.
That's right. In fact, we've got confirmation that the LOX loading has begun. So we're well under way,
coming up for launch at 3:02. John, thanks for joining us. I know there's a lot to be done still this morning so thanks again.
Thank you, Bruce. Bye.