CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An embarrassing and potentially costly launch pad mishap involving a crane, a Delta 2 rocket and its Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft will delay the satellite delivery mission several weeks.
The accident happened Friday, Oct. 25, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's launch pad 17B.
In preparation for a planned Nov. 7 launch, workers were stacking the $50 million Navstar satellite and its attached third stage rocket to the second stage of a Delta 2 rocket.
As usual, the hardware was delivered to the pad within a protective canister that is structurally attached to the third stage. The launch pad crane then lifted the canister into position atop the rocket and the second and third stages were attached.
At that point the canister is supposed to be unfastened so the crane can lift the canister away from the stack. That didn't happen.
In what the Air Force is calling an "operator error," crane workers attempted to lift the canister free of the rocket while the cylinder still was attached.
The resulting stress on the relatively fragile booster severely damaged the third stage and possibly bent the second stage to such a degree that officials are not yet sure if it can be repaired or if it will have to be replaced.
Early indications are that the GPS satellite was not damaged in the incident, although the official Air Force statement left the matter open.
"Initial assessment indicates that damage appears to have occurred mainly to the booster. Work has begun at the complex to move the canisterized GPS spacecraft and third stage rocket to a facility where it can be disassembled and inspected to determine whether any damage to the spacecraft occurred," the Air Force said in a statement.
No one was hurt in the mishap, the Air Force said.
"There is no estimate yet as to the time required to complete a damage assessment to the booster and return all flight hardware to launch-ready configuration," the statement said.
Launch of this particular Navstar GPS has been on hold most of the year because of concerns about the Delta 2's wiring harnesses and the booster's range safety destruct system. Similar hardware at the factory was found to be suspect, so the Air Force ordered a review of the equipment already at the Cape.
The last GPS launch was in January 2001. Since then the constellation of 24 spacecraft has been relatively healthy so there hasn't been much urgency to launch a replacement.
Complicating plans at the Delta 2 complex is a planned Jan. 9 launch of NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). That shot must take place by March 9 because of a science launch window, and from pad 17B because that's the only pad that can handle the larger solid rocket motors that will be used.
It's possible that the Delta 2 GPS vehicle will be moved to nearby pad 17A to shorten or avoid any potential delay to the SIRTF launch. Another option is to launch both rockets from pad 17B as originally planned by working overtime to minimize any delays.
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