STEREO's launch has been postponed to no earlier than Oct. 18. The decision was made to remove the STEREO second stage from the launch vehicle, allowing inspection from inside the propellant tank to verify it is structurally sound for flight. In addition, an electrical checkout of the vehicle is underway due to lightning strikes within a one-third mile radius of Complex 17 during the passing of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm had no effect on the STEREO spacecraft.
The STEREO observatories remain at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility, where technicians have removed the transportation canister from around the payload to begin the process of reconditioning the batteries and preparing for the storage period. The twin spacecraft will remain in storage until the necessary course of action for the Delta II can be more clearly defined.
The STEREO mission will provide a totally new perspective on solar eruptions by capturing images of coronal mass ejections and background events from two observatories at the same time. STEREO's twin observatories will be offset from one another in orbit. One observatory will be placed "ahead" of the Earth in its orbit, and using a series of lunar swingbys, the other will travel "behind." Just as the slight offset between your eyes provides you with depth perception, this placement will allow the STEREO observatories to obtain 3-D images of the sun.
Using this unique 3-D imagery, scientists will be able to examine the structure of these important events, and learn more about their fundamental nature and origin.
