Reset countdown clock: Kepler Telescope to launch 1 day late

William Atkins
Saturday, 28 February 2009 00:40

Science - Space

NASA announced on Thursday, February 26, 2009, that its Kepler Space Telescope will launch no earlier than Friday, March 6, one day later than originally scheduled, to double-check common hardware carried by Kepler’s rocket and the Taurus XL rocket that carried the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which crashed after its launch.


The NASA media brief “NASA’s Kepler Telescope to Launch Aboard Delta II Rocket,” stated that its NASA and contractor “[e]ngineers are reviewing all common hardware between the Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler telescope and the Taurus XL launch vehicle.”

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) failed to reach its intended orbit when a shroud covering the satellite failed to open properly.

Read the iTWire article "NASA's carbon dioxide mission fails to orbit, and crashes" for additional information on the space mishap.

The incident resulted in insufficient forward velocity for the OCO satellite to stay in orbit.

Consequently, it descended through Earth’s atmosphere, and crashed off Antarctica in the Antarctic Ocean.

NASA added that its “Managers want to confirm there will not be similar issues with Kepler's Delta II.”

One day was added to the pre-launch check-out of Kepler and its Delta II (technically, Delta II 7925-10L)  launch vehicle to “… accommodate the additional time for analysis.”

Page two continues with more of the story.