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Home , MUSE (spacecraft), Space Shuttle Discovery, Space Shuttle Endeavour

March 18, 2011 Vol. 51, No. 4 Spaceport News John F. - America’s gateway to the universe

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INSIDE . . . Firefighter retires EAP offers after 30 years counseling after fall at launch pad

By Linda Herridge Spaceport News Page 2 ennedy Space Center’s work force Discovery ready Ksuffered an unex- for transition pected loss on March 14, when one of its own died following a fall at Launch Pad 39A. NASA emergency CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Frankie Martin medical personnel respond- Bathed in xenon lights, Endeavour makes its nighttime journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch ed but were unable to revive Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on March 10. Riding atop a crawler-transporter attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, Endeavour’s 3.4-mile trek, known as “rollout,” began at 7:56 p.m. EST. This is the final scheduled rollout for United Space Alliance engi- Endeavour. To watch Endeavour’s final rollout, click the photo. neer James Vanover. Workers were offered counseling and Employee Page 3 Endeavour shines, rolls out Assistant Program services. “Our closeness as a Scenes Around team makes it more pain- Kennedy final time under xenon lights ful when we lose one of our own,” Kennedy Center By Frank Ochoa-Gonzales the Alabama river rock to Endeavour roll out to the Director Bob Cabana said in Spaceport News Launch Pad 39A. launch pad one final time, it a letter to Kennedy employ- “It being the final really is just one step getting ees. “It is our concern for nder a beautifully launch, this is not an easy us closer to launch,” Hutch- each other that enables our bright March 10 time for us,” Hutcherson erson said. “This is where crescent moon, mission to succeed.” U said. “But nonetheless, we we kick it in high gear Cabana urged everyone are enjoying it.” getting ready for launch and emerged from the Vehicle to take a moment and reflect Riding atop a crawler- our No. 1 mission, which is Assembly Building to the on taking care of themselves transporter for the last time, to fly safely.” Page 6 cheers of hundreds of work- and each other. ers, thousands of onlookers Endeavour and its launch- STS-134 Pilot Greg According to Employee NASA ships and a member of its final ready stack of solid rocket H. Johnson will fly Assistance Counselor Patti retrieve SRBs flight crew. boosters and external fuel aboard Endeavour to the Bell, Kennedy’s Employee But the biggest tank moved down the grav- International Space Station Assistance Program (EAP) may have belonged to Dana eled crawlerway at the usual and was on hand to watch offers counseling and a Hutcherson, NASA’s Endea- rollout pace of about 1 mph. the shuttle make the 3.4- variety of other services to vour Flow Director within The ride took about eight mile trek to the seaside all employees at Kennedy the Launch Vehicle Process- hours and left Endeavour launch pad. and Cape Canaveral Air ing Directorate. perched at pad A to lift off “There’s so much Force Station. Bell is with Hutcherson’s third mis- next month on a mission energy here at Kennedy Innovative Health Applica- sion as Endeavour’s flow to the International Space Space Center,” Johnson tions (IHA) on the center’s director is a bittersweet one, Station. said. “It was amazing to Medical Environmental Page 7 because it is the final time “While the team and the shuttle will roll over I are really excited to see See ROLLOUT, Page 4 See EAP, Page 3 Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS March 18, 2011

there were going to be as many as seven in there,” Hoggard Legendary firefighter said. Hoggard and his team taught the astronauts before each launch how retires after 30 years to drive the yellow M113 armored personnel carriers. The lessons By Steven Siceloff 1980s to prove they were safe. would be critical if there was an Spaceport News Bolden, returning as NASA emergency and the crew had to drive administrator, gave Hoggard a out of harm’s way. eorge Hoggard had an commemorative medallion during extraordinary career by “I tell the astronauts the shuttle his retirement party the day before cockpit’s got over 2,000 switches, most standards, so it wasn’t lifted off on G CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Kim Shiflett this one’s only got two, on and off, easy for him to say goodbye to the its final flight, the STS-133 mission. Outgoing Kennedy Space Center Chief of Fire and it’s easy as it can be,” Hoggard fire department at Kennedy Space Hoggard’s skill and dedication Training George Hoggard received a commemo- said. Center. came across to the astronauts very rative medallion during his retirement party from Hoggard still has a rule, though: “People who don’t know easily and made the firefighter a true NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden on March 9. For the complete story, click the photo. “They said, ‘Is there a pass/fail to anything about the space program legend at Kennedy, Shuttle Launch this driving test,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, cannot imagine how exciting it is Director Mike Leinbach said. his told him about the construction if you hurt the old guy, you’re going to work out here,” Hoggard said. “The astronauts know they can under way on NASA’s Kennedy “The very idea of it lasting 30 years trust him with their lives, and that Space Center. to fail the test, that’s the bottom line, never dawned on me and I never did says an enormous amount about Hoggard’s firefighting career don’t hurt the old guy.’ ” have any retirement plans because his experience, heart and wisdom,” at Kennedy began with a level of Hoggard saw different working out here is so much fun. Leinbach said. excitement that would become the perspectives of NASA when he Quite frankly, I’m thinking, ‘Why It’s a far different existence than norm. conducted training classes at the would I want to leave this?’” Hoggard thought he would have. “I was really new out here and agency’s other field centers. As the chief of fire training, After getting out of the Marines, got to go out to the fire training area “They ask, ‘Have you seen a Hoggard and his crew worked Hoggard thought he’d go into the and they said three astronauts were launch?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I don’t closely with astronauts to teach family business: law enforcement. going to show up and I didn’t know close my eyes,’” he said. “Then they them how to handle emergencies His father and brother were both who they were,” Hoggard said. asked, ‘Well, what’s that like?’ Then on the launch pad or on the ground policemen, and Hoggard joined the “And they left and I had no idea who it dawned on me, there are thousands following a problem. He showed force. He was assigned to the vice they were and six months later they of people who work for NASA and them where to go once they left the squad and during the next year had stepped on the moon . . . it was the NASA contractors who have never shuttle cockpit, such as when to take some close calls, including getting Apollo 11 crew.” seen a launch and I’ve seen many of the elevator and when to go straight stabbed and shot at. “When the shuttle started up them and that’s just kind of amazing. to the slidewire basket. He and then- Later, working as a firefighter we kind of had to sort of reinvent It’s a shame that everybody can’t Charlie Bolden took a in southeastern Virginia, Hoggard’s everything because there wasn’t be in the position that I am here at ride in one of the baskets in the late career turned again after a friend of going to be just three astronauts, Kennedy.” NASA selects board to investigate Glory mishap ASA has selected failed to reach orbit after it engineering work force at South Pacific. chair, the members of launched from Vandenberg Dryden. He also has served The ex-officio member Safety and Engineering Nthe board that will Air Force Base in Califor- as Dryden’s chief engineer is Christopher Nagy, Safety Review Panel; Air Force investigate the unsuccessful nia. and was responsible for and Mission Assurance Capt. Benjamin Califf, March 4 launch of the Glory According to NASA providing independent manager at Kennedy Space deputy chief, Space Launch . Assistant Launch Director technical guidance and Center. The ex-officio Section, Kirtland Air Force Bradley C. Flick, Chuck Dovale, early indica- oversight to flight projects. member assures board Base, Albuquerque, N.M.; director of the Research and tions are the fairing failed to Orbital Sciences also activity conforms to NASA and Barbara Kanki, research Engineering Directorate open and break away from will have a failure board. procedural requirements. psychologist, NASA’s Ames at NASA’s Dryden Flight the rocket’s final stage. No pieces of the The board has six Research Center, Moffett Research Center in We failed to make spacecraft have been found other voting members: Field, Calif. Edwards, Calif., will lead orbit,” said Omar Baez, the and no injuries or property LeRoy E. Cain, deputy The board began its the mishap investigation NASA launch director for damage has been reported manager, Space Shuttle investigation March 9. board. the Glory mission. “All indi- either. And since few of Program, Johnson Space Members will gather On March 4, the Orbital cations are that the satellite the spacecraft’s part are Center, Houston; Daniel information, analyze Sciences Taurus XL launch and the rocket’s third stage salvageable, there is no Dorney, supervisory the facts, identify the vehicle, carrying a NASA are in the southern Pacific recovery effort planned at aerospace engineer, NASA’s failure’s cause or causes satellite intended to improve Ocean above .” this time. Marshall Space Flight and identify contributing our understanding of how Flick is responsible The second stage Center, Huntsville, Ala.; factors. The board will the and tiny atmospheric for the technical and re-entered the atmosphere Todd Hinkel, lead, Johnson make recommendations to called aerosols administrative management near the French Polynesian Space Center Pyrotechnics the NASA administrator to affect Earth’s climate, of the directorate’s island of Mangareva in the Group; Stacey Nakamura, prevent similar incidents. March 18, 2011 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3

From EAP, Page 1 Discovery transitions to retirement Support Contract. By Steven Siceloff EAP provides services Spaceport News to employees experiencing emotional stress, mental long list of inspec- health disorders, fam- tions await space ily or relationship difficul- Ashuttle Discovery ties, financial and/or legal as technicians at NASA’s concerns, and alcohol and Kennedy Space Center in substance abuse problems. Florida take the first steps to “In the event of a prepare the agency’s oldest critical incident, the EAP active orbiter for retirement. uses a variety of services Discovery touched down to assist management and Wednesday, March 9, just employees in responding to before noon to complete the a workplace crisis to support 13-day STS-133 mission business continuity and em- to the International Space ployee recovery,” Bell said. Station. The shuttle and She said workplace its crew of six astronauts critical incidents are sudden, delivered the last pressur- CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Bill Ingalls unexpected events that often ized module to the U.S. side Space shuttle Discovery’s drag chute is fully deployed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center’s as it are significant enough to of the orbiting outpost, a returns from its 13-day, 5.3-million-mile STS-133 mission. Main gear touchdown was at 11:57:17 a.m., followed by nose gear overwhelm normal coping large closet of sorts called touchdown at 11:57:28 a.m., and wheelstop at 11:58:14 a.m. Click the photo to watch footage from Discovery’s final mission. responses. They vary in type the Permanent Multipurpose and severity and can affect Module. this as well,’” Stilson said. pedia to pass on to future high-tech things that make employees as well as man- Standing on the runway at “We’ll go through basically spacecraft designers. engines so special, they agement. Bell said the EAP Kennedy, STS-133 Com- our standard testing and “We can still learn a won’t be part of the dis- checkout initially, right after mander Steve Lindsey de- lot from these vehicles,” play,” Stilson said. The ex- and its Critical Response landing, so that’s business scribed bittersweet feelings Gerstenmaier said. “We’re clusion won’t be noticeable Team are trained to facilitate as usual.” of bringing home NASA’s going to learn everything we to visitors, though, because group debriefings, defusing There are no signs of most veteran orbiter for its can and archive it so when the powerhead of a main and education sessions to hidden dangers, and indeed 39th and final time. we go to build the next engine is hidden inside the assist in processing the reac- astronauts and technicians “As the minutes pass, generation (spacecraft) we aft compartment anyway. tions to an abnormal event. often note that the shuttle I’m actually getting sadder will have actually learned The OMS pods and the The EAP is available looks pristine, as though and sadder about this being everything we can from forward reaction control 24 hours, seven days a week it had not even gone into the last flight and I know these vehicles.” system will be detached for anyone who needs to space before. Neverthe- all the folks involved with The space shuttle main from the shuttles at Ken- talk. To schedule a group less, the retirement gives the shuttle program feel the engines, considered by some nedy and shipped to White meeting or one-on-one technicians and engineers to be the most advanced Sands, New Mexico, for dis- counseling, call Bell at 861- same way,” Lindsey said. a chance to delve deep into rocket design ever, also will assembly. The OMS engines 8647, or Walt Hersing at A few hours after land- the spaceframe to areas that get a heavy dose of attention use hypergolic propellants, 867-7398. ing at Kennedy’s Shuttle have not been seen recently. during the transition phase, so any part or seal that could For assistance after Landing Facility, Discovery “There’s some hydraulics according to Mike Moses, release harmful elements in hours, call 866-315-7380. was back inside an orbiter systems, some other things the shuttle’s launch integra- the future will be removed processing facility going that we really haven’t had tion manager. there. through standard post-land- a chance to look at because More information The 6,000-pound thrust ing procedures. it was really too invasive In fact, although the three As the standard work is to get in there and look at shuttles will go to muse- engines in the OMS pods Innovative Health Applications other completed, Transition and so we’re going to request ums, they will not take their will be removed from the medical services include Retirement Flow Direc- that the teams pull some of engines with them. Instead, pods and replaced with occupational medicine, tor Stephanie Stilson said those components out and they will sport dummy replicas before they are occupational health technicians will make a do some forensics,” said engine nozzles that will look reattached to the shuttle for series of inspections to find exactly like the real thing. public display. examinations, non- Bill Gerstenmaier, associ- emergency treatments, out whether there are any NASA is going to keep the Other than those things, ate administrator of Space administrative management, lurking issues that could real engines in its inven- though, NASA intends to Operations. Travel Medicine Program, pose concerns to shuttles tory, potentially using them have the rest of the shuttle The inspections will not Health Education and Endeavour and Atlantis as be unique to Discovery. on a future rocket or as a look just as it did the last Wellness Program, health they make their own final Atlantis and Endeavour also head start to design the next time it went into orbit. training, fitness, Medical flights. will be examined closely for engines. “For the most part, they Education Program, “We’ll see if there’s any similar conditions. By the “From the outside, it’ll will remain intact,” Stilson massage therapy problem anomalies that we time all three orbiters are in- look like real engines, but said. “We want to keep them and musculoskeletal have to go say, ‘Hey, you spected, NASA is expected the inner workings, the looking as flight-like as pos- rehabilitation services. guys may want to go look at to have a detailed encyclo- turbopumps and all those sible.” Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS March 18, 2011 March 18, 2011 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5

NASA/Jack Pfaller Space shuttle Endeavour stands ready for processing beside the rotating and fixed service structures on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on March 11. Launch is targeted for 7:48 p.m. EDT April 19. 2010, the shuttle spent most of From ROLLOUT, Page 1 its time in Orbiter Processing meet so many people, some Facility-1 being prepped for this NASA/Frankie Martin NASA/Frankie Martin flight. Employees hold up a banner to commemorate shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission as it is transported from Kennedy Space Center’s Orbiter Processing Facility-2 to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Feb. 28. of who have spent their entire A large yellow, metal sling lifts shuttle Endeavour from the transfer aisle into a high bay of the career working on the Space “We’ve had times where Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on March 1. Shuttle Program.” we’ve been able to sit back and The Alpha Magnetic reflect a little bit,” Hutcherson Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is part said. “We’ve shared some photos of the payload for Endeavour’s and videos with the team, we Endeavour’s Recent Endeavors final mission. A large physics have a lot of that camaraderie, experiment, AMS was designed this is our extended family. We by Nobel laureate Professor Sam care very much about the people Ting to determine the nature of we work with. As you can see at cosmic rays in space. rollout, a lot of people love what AMS will be connected to they do and love to share this the outside of the International with their family.” Endeavour moved to the Space Station during STS- Vehicle Assembly Building 134. From that location, the on Feb. 28, where it was lifted 15,000-pound AMS, with its ring and connected to the rest of of powerful magnets and super- the stack. Although the lifting sensitive detectors, may be able operations were perfected long to capture definitive signatures ago in the shuttle program, the NASA/Jack Pfaller of the invisible rays that pass maneuver still drew a crowd of Shuttle Endeavour is secured to a transporter for its move, or “rollover” from Orbiter Processing Facility-2 to the Vehicle through the universe. The photographers and spectators. Assembly Building (VAB) on Feb. 28. findings could unlock the secrets The largest crane in the of everything from dark energy Vehicle Assembly Building to antimatter to the radiation descended from the ceiling fields astronauts must traverse on to connect to space shuttle their way to Mars or deep space. Endeavour for the last time AMS is scheduled to take a later that day. The next day, separate ride to the pad during Endeavour made its final trip the early evening of March 21. up to the rafters before being Like the shuttle, it will ride on a lowered into place on its external specialized transporter designed fuel tank. to treat shuttle payloads with Hutcherson said: “It would extra care. be nice if I could be king for a Endeavour last flew on STS- day and make the world come to 130, when it was used to carry a stop so everyone could watch NASA/Kim Shiflett the Tranquility node and the these final launches and ingest NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA Shuttle Endeavour is lowered into place for attachment to its external fuel tank and solid rocket windowed to the space what the Shuttle Endeavour is lowered into place for attachment to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already Media gather outside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 to photograph shuttle Endeavour’s move, or “rollover,” to the Vehicle boosters already positioned on the in the Vehicle Assembly Building station. Since landing Feb. 21, has done.” positioned on the mobile launcher platform in the Vehicle Assembly Building on March 1 at Kennedy Space Center. Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 28. on March 1 at Kennedy Space Center. Page 6 SPACEPORT NEWS March 18, 2011 Scenes Around Kennedy Space Center

CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Kim Shiflett Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana holds the “Big Ticket” for admission to the KSC All-American Picnic, scheduled for April 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All civil service, contractors, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station personnel associated with a NASA program, and their families, are invited to attend. This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the picnic, “Celebrating 47 Years of Success at the Kennedy Space Center.” The fully catered picnic will include a choice between a traditional barbeque or vegetarian meal. Scheduled events include live entertainment, community exhibitions, children’s games, a car and motorcycle show, the popular chili cook-off, and much more. Tickets are on sale through March 30. Prices are $8 for adults and $6 for children ages 3 to 12 (children ages 2 and younger get in free). Volunteers will receive a discounted ticket of $5 and a T-shirt. For more information, call Eli Schoen at 321-867-8894.

NASA/Kim Shiflett Workers move quick at the slidewire basket landing site of Launch NASA/Jack Pfaller Pad 39A during an emergency exit, or Mode II/IV on March 1. The A United Space Alliance technician examines one of shuttle Atlantis’ exercise involves NASA fire rescue personnel, volunteers portraying thermal protection tiles in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at Kennedy astronauts with simulated injuries, helicopters and personnel from Space Center on March 1. The tile went through a pull test, which the Air Force’s 920th Rescue Wing, and medical trauma teams at measures the force it takes to pull it off of the shuttle and makes three Central Florida hospitals. sure the bond between the two is strong enough to withstand the force of launch and landing.

NASA/Glenn Benson Professor Sam Ting, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) Photo courtesy of Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance NASA/Kim Shiflett principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The United Launch Alliance Delta IV launches with a National An inflatable model of rover Curiosity was on display Feb. 9 as checks out the physics detector in the Space Station Pro- Reconnaissance Office payload at Space Launch Complex-37 on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Launch cessing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. AMS is designed to oper- March 11 at 6:38 p.m. EST. The Delta IV is 211-feet tall and has Services Office Manager David Woerner shared information about ate as an external experiment on the International Space Station. It more than one million pounds of thrust at liftoff. This is the third the science mission and the rover in the Operations and Checkout will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and launch of the year for ULA and the 16th flight of the Delta IV family Building’s Mission Briefing Room. Curiosity is scheduled to launch its origin by searching for dark matter. of launch vehicles. from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 25. March 18, 2011 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 7 SRB retrieval ships tow shuttle’s lifelines to shore

CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Ben Smegelsky CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Tony Gray and Tom Farrar A spent booster from space shuttle Discovery’s final launch is seen bob- NASA/Ben Smegelsky To watch a video taken from Discovery’s solid rocket bing in the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 26. Click on the photo above to follow Chief Mate Jamie Harris charts the Atlantic boosters during the STS-133 liftoff, separation and along with the crews of Freedom Star and Star as they recover the Ocean on Feb. 24 in preparation for a solid splashdown on Feb. 24, click on the photo above. shuttle’s boosters. rocket booster recovery operation.

CLICK ON PHOTO NASA/Frank Michaux

On Feb. 26, a Liberty Star diver helps retrieve a spent booster NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA/Ben Smegelsky from space shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 launch. To learn more In the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 26, debris and water are pumped out of a spent Freedom Star’s crane lifts a booster nose about NASA’s solid rocket booster retrieval ships, Liberty Star solid rocket booster from space shuttle Discovery’s final launch. This makes it cap out of the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 25. and Freedom Star, click on the photo above. easier for Freedom Star and Liberty Star to transport the booster back to shore.

NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA/Jim Grossmann NASA/Jim Grossmann A massive parachute from a spent solid rocket booster is Liberty Star, with a booster in tow, is docked in Port Canaver- A spent booster is unloaded onto a hoisting slip at the Solid rolled up on the deck of Freedom Star on Feb. 26. al, Fla., on Feb. 28. A cruise ship is seen in the background. Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility on Feb. 28.

CLICK ON PHOTO NASA file/2002 NASA/Jim Grossmann Hear from Capt. David S. Fraine, who has been a NASA/Jack Pfaller Technicians inspect a spent booster outside Hangar AF at Cape part of the solid rocket booster recovery process for On March 3, a spent booster is moved into Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 3. almost 30 years, by clicking on the photo above. Canaveral Air Force Station, where it will be cleaned. Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS March 18, 2011

NASA Employees of the Month: March Seen From Kennedy Space Center

NASA/Gina Mitchell-Ryall Employees for the month of March are, from left, Amy E. O’Brien, Human Resource Office; Alicia Men- doza, Launch Vehicle Processing Directorate; Amy Canfield, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate; Janet Mayers, Information Technology and Communications Services; Dina Hoffman, Education and External Relations; Dorothea Kuzma, Center Operations; and Dwight “Lance” Rogers, Engineering Directorate. Not pictured are, Tonya Fuentes, Chief Counsel; Matthew Jolley, Constellation Project Of- fice; Nancy Zeitlin, Engineering Directorate; Gloria McIntosh, Procurement Office; andAyman Abdallah, .

Looking up and ahead . . .

Targeted for April 19 Launch/KSC: Endeavour, STS-134; 7:48 p.m. EDT Planned for May 3 Landing/KSC: Endeavour, STS-134; 1:27 p.m. EDT

No Earlier Than April 30 Launch/CCAFS: Atlas V, SBIRS GEO-1; TBD

No Earlier Than June 23 Launch/CCAFS: Atlas V, GPS IIF-2; TBD

No Earlier Than June 9 Launch/VAFB: Delta II, Photo courtesy of Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance Aquarius / SAC-D Satellite; TBD

Targeted for June 28 Launch/KSC: Atlantis, STS-135; 3:48 p.m. EDT U.S. Air Force launches Atlas V, OTV-2 A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Air Force’s second Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2) No Earlier Than July 15 Launch/CCAFS: SpaceX Falcon 9, launches March 5 from Launch Complex-41 at 5:46 p.m. EST. The OTV, also known as the X-37B, Dragon C2; TBD supports space experimentation, risk reduction, and concept of operations development for long- duration and reusable space vehicle technologies. Aug. 5 Launch/CCAFS: Atlas V, ; Launch Window 12:10 to 1:40 p.m. EDT

Sept. 8 Launch/CCAFS: Delta II Heavy, GRAIL; John F. Kennedy Space Center 8:35:52 a.m. to 9:14:35 a.m. EDT

No Earlier Than Oct. 9 Launch/CCAFS: SpaceX Falcon 9, Spaceport News Dragon C3; TBD Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Center and Oct. 25 Launch/VAFB: Delta II Heavy, NPP; TBD is published online on alternate Fridays by Public Affairs in the interest of KSC civil service and contractor employees. No Earlier Than Nov. 25 Launch/CCAFS: Atlas V, Mars Science Laboratory; TBD Contributions are welcome and should be submitted three weeks before publication to the Media Services Branch, IMCS-440. E-mail submissions can be sent to No Earlier Than December Launch/CCAFS: Delta IV-Heavy, NROL-15; TBD [email protected] Managing editor ...... Candrea Thomas No Earlier Than Dec. 7 Launch/CCAFS: SpaceX Falcon 9, Editor ...... Frank Ochoa-Gonzales Dragon C4; TBD Copy editor ...... Rebecca Regan

Early 2012 Launch/CCAFS: Atlas V, AEHF 2; TBD Editorial support provided by Abacus Technology Corp. Writers Group. NASA at KSC is on the Internet at www.nasa.gov/kennedy USGPO: 733-049/600142