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tisdag 19 maj 2015

Mission status, LightSail

It’s the day before launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where The Planetary Society’s LightSail spacecraft is scheduled to take a stroll to the pad at Space Launch Complex 41. Inside United Launch Alliance's Vertical Integration Facility, an Atlas V rocket has spent the past couple weeks safely sheltered, after technicians installed its primary payload, the U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane.
The AFSPC-5 mission's next milestone, a slow roll to the launch pad, will expose the Atlas V to the elements for the first time. LightSail and its nine CubeSat brethren remain encased beneath the rocket's interstage adapter, which protects part of the Centaur upper stage until first stage separation.

United Launch Alliance's Vertical Integration Facility houses the Atlas V rocket carrying the Air Force's AFPSC-5 payload, as well as LightSail. The rocket will roll the launch pad, which is surrounded by four lightning masts, tomorrow morning.

                                    Timeline of events for LightSail’s first day in space.

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