Wednesday, March 23, 2011

SDO/EVE Rocket Update

The Wed March 23 launch window is 11:50 AM - 12:20 AM MDT (17:50 - 18:20 UT)

Mar 23, 9:00 AM MDT: Experiment sections are ready for flight. Final arming of the launch vehicles have begun. Weather report is still Green for launch.
Mar 23, 8:10 AM MDT: Horizontal test completed. Starting preparations for flight.
Mar 23, 7:30 AM MDT: CCDs are down to -40 C. Getting ready for Horizontal (turn-on) test at 7:50 AM.
Mar 23, 6:30 AM MDT: Instrument CCDs are cooled down to -20 C. Plan is to be at -65 C for launch time.
Mar 23, 4:30 AM MDT: Andrew on-station and cooling of CCDs have started. Payload pressure is 0.12 milliTorr at start of cool down (Pump IG pressure of 1.3 microTorr). Weather looking great for launch today: 61 F, sunny, low winds forecasted for launch time.

Follow updates as they come in at:
http://lasp.colorado.edu/rocket/rocket_future.html