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(meteorobs) CONTOUR spacecraft successfully lifts off!
This and similar missions over the next few years, promise to give
unprecedented insights into the science of meteor streams - not to
mention their significant potential contributions to our knowledge
of comets, the origins of our planetary system and many other areas!
Exciting times to be an amateur involved in the world of meteors. :)
Clear skies,
Lew Gramer
Messsage 1 is a pre-announcement, message 2 the successful launch...
------- Forwarded Message 1
From: "Buckingham-1, Bruce" <Bruce.Buckingham-1@ksc.nasadot gov>
To: "1 'ksc-news_release@kscnews. ksc. nasa. gov' (E-mail)"
<ksc-news_release@kscnews.ksc.nasadot gov>
Subject: CONTOUR SPACECRAFT SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 3
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 15:45:18 -0400
NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321-867-2468
________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________
For Release: July 1, 2002
George H. Diller
321/867-2468
KSC Release No. 67-02
NOTE TO EDITORS UPDATE:
CONTOUR SPACECRAFT SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 3
The launch of NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft has officially
been rescheduled for Wednesday, July 3 at 2:47:41 a.m. EDT. Liftoff will occur
aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-A on Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station.
REMOTE CAMERAS
Media wishing to establish remote cameras at the launch pad should meet at the
Pass & Identification Building located outside Gate 1 of Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station on State Road 401 at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2, to be escorted to
Space Launch Complex 17.
LAUNCH DAY PRESS COVERAGE
On launch day, access badges will be issued for all news media starting at 1:15
a.m. at the Pass & Identification Building on SR 401 outside Gate 1 of Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. Departure for Press Site 1 will be at 1:30 a.m.
A Cape Canaveral Air Force Station press badge is required. Kennedy Space
Center and Space Shuttle access badges will not be honored at Gate 1.
NASA TELEVISION AND WEB COVERAGE
Coverage of the launch on NASA Television will begin at 1 a.m. EDT and will
conclude after spacecraft separation occurring 63 1/2 minutes after launch.
NASA Television is available on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C, located at 85
degrees West longitude. A simulcast of the NASA Television coverage will also
be available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.ksc.nasadot gov> Additional
information about CONTOUR is available at <http://www.contour2002.org>
Audio only of NASA Television coverage of the launch will be available on the
"V" circuits which may be dialed directly at 321/867-1220, 1240, 1260, 7135.
# # #
-------------------------------------------------------------
For automatic email subscriptions to this KSC originated press releases, send an
Internet electronic mail message to:
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The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription.
------- Forwarded Message 2
From: "Buckingham-1, Bruce" <Bruce.Buckingham-1@ksc.nasadot gov>
To: "1 'ksc-news_release@kscnews. ksc. nasa. gov' (E-mail)"
<ksc-news_release@kscnews.ksc.nasadot gov>
Subject: CONTOUR Spacecraft Launches from Cape Canaveral
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 06:25:15 -0400
NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321-867-2468
____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
For Release: July 3, 2002
Don Savage
NASA Headquarters
202/358-1727
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468
Mike Buckley
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
240/228-7536
KSC Release No. 68-02
CONTOUR Spacecraft Launches from Cape Canaveral
NASA Mission on Course to Provide Unparalleled Look at Comets
NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft - set to provide the closest
look yet at the "heart" of a comet - successfully launched today at 2:47
a.m. EDT aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Fla.
Designed and built by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., the 2,138-pound (970-kilogram) spacecraft
was placed into an elliptical Earth orbit 63 minutes after launch. About 19
minutes later the mission operations team at APL acquired a signal from the
spacecraft through the Deep Space Network antenna station in Goldstone,
Calif., and by 5:45 a.m. EDT Mission Director Dr. Robert W. Farquhar of the
Applied Physics Lab confirmed the craft was operating normally and ready to
carry out its early orbit maneuvers.
- - more -
"CONTOUR's launch was a spectacular start to an important project," says Dr.
Stamatios M. Krimigis, head of the APL Space Department. "CONTOUR is next in
the growing lineup of missions to explore small planetary bodies - such as
comets and asteroids - and we expect it will add much to what little we know
about these ancient samples of the solar system's original materials."
CONTOUR will orbit Earth until Aug. 15, when it is scheduled to fire its
main engine and enter a comet-chasing orbit around the sun. The mission's
flexible four-year plan includes encounters with comets Encke (Nov. 12,
2003) and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (June 19, 2006), though it can add an
encounter with a "new" and scientifically valuable comet from the outer
solar system, should one be discovered in time for CONTOUR to fly past it.
CONTOUR's four scientific instruments will take detailed pictures and
measure the chemical makeup of each comet's nucleus - a chunk of ice and
rock - while analyzing the surrounding gas and dust.
The 8-sided solar-powered craft will fly as close as 62 miles (100
kilometers) from each nucleus, protected by a 10-inch-thick, layered dust
shield of heavy Nextel and Kevlar fabric. Scientists expect the data to
reveal the differences between comet nuclei and answer questions about the
role comets had in shaping the Earth and other planets.
"We're looking forward to a fantastic mission," says APL's Edward L.
Reynolds, who at launch assumed the role of CONTOUR project manager from
Mary C. Chiu, who is retiring from the Applied Physics Laboratory. "From
mission design and operations at APL, to the navigation group at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, to the science effort headed by Cornell University,
this team includes the talent and expertise needed to capture and deliver
the best data yet on a comet's nucleus."
The $159 million CONTOUR is the sixth mission in NASA's Discovery Program of
lower cost, scientifically focused exploration projects. APL manages the
mission, built the spacecraft and its two cameras, and will operate CONTOUR
during flight. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., provided
CONTOUR's neutral gas/ion mass spectrometer and von Hoerner & Sulger, GmbH,
Schwetzingen, Germany, built the dust analyzer. NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will provide navigation and Deep Space Network
(DSN) support. Dr. Joseph Veverka, CONTOUR's principal investigator from
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., leads a science team of co-investigators
from universities, industry and government agencies in the U.S. and Europe.
For more information about the CONTOUR mission or to view images of the
spacecraft, visit www.contour2002.org.
___________________
The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of The Johns Hopkins University,
meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of
science and technology. For more information, visit www.jhuapldot edu.
- - end -
- -------------------------------------------------------------
For automatic email subscriptions to this KSC originated press releases, send
an Internet electronic mail message to mailto:ksc-news_release-subscribe@kscnews
.ksc.nasadot gov. With no subject or message. The system will reply with a
confirmation via e-mail of each subscription.
Status reports and other NASA publications are available on the World Wide Web
at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasadot gov/kscpao/kscpao.htm .
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