Delta Ii And Grail Ready

The moon... it's our closest celestial neighbor. And yet more than 40 years after astronauts first set foot on the lunar surface, there are still many mysteries to solve. NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft... known collectively as GRAIL... are ready for their lunar assignment. The spacecraft will look at the moon's gravitational field to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core. Scientists hope what they learn from GRAIL's mission will advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket that will launch the GRAIL spacecraft began to take shape at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 17B in April. The rocket's first stage arrived at the pad on April 7 and was lifted into place. Later in the month, the nine solid-fueled boosters were delivered to the launch complex and attached to the rocket's first stage. Workers transported the Delta's second stage to the pad in May and hoisted it atop the first stage booster. May also marked the arrival of the Air Force C-17 cargo plane carrying the GRAIL spacecraft. The plane ferried the spacecraft from Lockheed Martin's Denver plant where it was built to Florida where it would undergo its prelaunch processing. After it was unloaded at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, GRAIL was transported to the Astrotech payload processing facility in nearby Titusville. Once inside the processing facility, the spacecraft was uncrated before technicians attached and tested the solar panels. The electrical power subsystem on each of GRAIL's twin spacecraft includes two solar arrays and a lithium ion battery. Each solar array is capable of producing no less than 700 watts. Shortly after GRAIL separates from the rocket, the arrays will be deployed and remain fixed throughout the mission. The next step for the processing team was to move the spacecraft in late July to Astrotech's hazardous processing facility for fueling. With the scheduled launch just a month away, the twin spacecraft were weighed before they were stacked in their launch configuration. Once attached to the spacecraft adapter ring in their side-by-side launch position, GRAIL was placed in a protective canister for transport to the launch pad. On August 18, the spacecraft arrived at the launch pad and was lifted atop the Delta II rocket. Technicians secured the clamshell-shaped payload fairing around the spacecraft on August 24. The fairing -- which will be jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere -- will protect the spacecraft during its ascent to space. The rocket and spacecraft stand ready at the launch pad, set to begin the journey to further