Aug 23 2011
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-178 NASA SETS GRAIL/DELTA II LAUNCH COVERAGE EVENTS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's GRAIL spacecraft is set to launch to the moon aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket on Sept. 8, 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Fla. There are two instantaneous (1 sec.) launch windows at 8:37:06 a.m. and 9:16:12 a.m. EDT. The launch period, the last for Delta IIs at the Cape, extends through Oct. 19. The launch times occur approximately four minutes earlier each day. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. GRAIL Prelaunch News Conference A prelaunch news conference will be at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 1 p.m. Participating in the briefing: -- Ed Weiler, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- Tim Dunn, NASA launch director, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA Missions, United Launch Alliance, Denver -- David Lehman, GRAIL project manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. -- John Henk, GRAIL program manager, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. -- Joel Tumbiolo, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, CCAFS GRAIL Mission Science Briefing A GRAIL mission science briefing will be at Kennedy's Press Site on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. Participating in the briefing: -- Robert Fogel, GRAIL program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge -- Sami Asmar, GRAIL deputy project scientist, JPL -- Sally Ride, president and CEO, Sally Ride Science, San Diego.
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