Systems are go for mission to Pluto
Fuel tank passes latest inspection for Jan. 17 launch
Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News
Published January 7, 2006 at midnight
The first mission to Pluto remains on track for a Jan. 17 launch after inspections of its Denver-built rocket turned up no defects, NASA announced Friday.
Engineers used a camera-equipped device called a borescope to peer inside the drained fuel tank of the Lockheed Martin Atlas V rocket. They were looking for cracks in the tank but found none, according to NASA.
"It's good news. If we had cracks in that tank, we wouldn't be flying it," said Boulder planetary scientist Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission.
"I'm very encouraged," Stern said.
But additional tests and computer-modeling studies must be performed before New Horizons receives final clearance for launch, said NASA spokesman George Diller.
The $700 million New Horizons mission will be the first to explore Pluto, its moon Charon, and the Kuiper Belt, a vast region of icy bodies beyond Neptune.
The piano-size spacecraft will blast off from a Cape Canaveral launch pad atop NASA's most powerful launch vehicle, the Atlas V-551, built in Jefferson County by Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
Last month, NASA delayed the launch six days - from Jan. 11 to the 17th - so engineers could troubleshoot a possible problem with the Atlas fuel tank.
It holds 26,000 gallons of a kerosene-like liquid called RP-1. The fuel is ignited and mixed with liquid oxygen during launch to create thrust.
During a pressure test at Lockheed Martin's Waterton Canyon facility in September, an RP-1 tank like the one that will be used in the New Horizons launch burst, Stern said.
The RP-1 tank on the New Horizons Atlas V was then inspected and found to be sound. But a second, precautionary test was performed Tuesday and Wednesday to confirm there are no problems. Inspectors used a borescope, a rigid tube with a camera and a light on the end.
"No defects were observed," Diller said. "It's a good step, and we're still proceeding toward the 17th."
ericksonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5129
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
