Feb. 27, 2009

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller{at}nasa.gov

STATUS REPORT: ELV-022709

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Mission: Kepler
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7925
Launch Pad: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: No Earlier Than March 6, 2009
Launch Time: 10:49:57 p.m. EST

Engineers are reviewing hardware on the Taurus launch vehicle for
commonality with the Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler telescope.
On Tuesday, a Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's Orbiting Carbon
Observatory failed to achieve orbit. Managers want to confirm there
will not be any related issues with Kepler's Delta II.

Kepler's original no-earlier-than March 5 launch date needed to be
adjusted a day later to accommodate the additional time for analysis.
The March 6 target date still needs to be confirmed with the U.S. Air
Force, which manages the eastern launch range. Kepler's Flight
Readiness Review meeting is on Monday, March 2.

Kepler was moved to Launch Complex 17 on Feb. 19 and placed in a
staging facility. The Kepler spacecraft was mated to its second stage
on Feb. 21. The payload fairing was installed around the Kepler
spacecraft yesterday. At Pad 17-B, mating of the spacecraft to the
Delta II rocket occurred last weekend. A spacecraft countdown launch
rehearsal will be conducted on March 3.



Mission: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and
Sensing Satellite (LRO/LCROSS)
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Launch Date: No Earlier Than May 20, 2009
Launch Time: TBD

NASA now is targeting May 20 for launch instead of April 24 after
another Atlas V government launch, which is scheduled for liftoff in
March, experienced technical problems and was delayed. It will use
the same launch pad that LRO/LCROSS will use.

NASA's Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, left
Northrop Grumman's facility in Redondo Beach, Calif., on Feb. 17 via
truck and arrived at the Astrotech Facility in Titusville, Fla., near
Kennedy Space Center, on Feb. 19.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, arrived at the facility
on Feb. 13. The spacecraft was uncrated and transferred to a
hazardous processing facility the same day, where covers were removed
and technicians performed a black-light inspection. The spacecraft's
solar arrays were attached and deployed, and a spacecraft activation
test was conducted on Feb. 15.

Several operations tests and simulations were conducted on both
spacecraft during the past week.

The Centaur stage arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb.
20. It was offloaded and transported to the Atlas Spaceflight
Operations Center facility on Feb. 21. The launch vehicle fairing
halves arrived at the payload processing facility on Feb 26.



Previous status reports are available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/index.html

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