spacetoday.net: CONTOUR launch delayed

Posted: Fri, Jun 28, 2002, 1:57 PM ET (1757 GMT)
CONTOUR spacecraft illustration (NASA/JHUAPL)

NASA has delayed the launch of the CONTOUR comet flyby mission at least two days after discovering contamination on one of the spacecraft's solar panels, the space agency announced Friday. CONTOUR was scheduled to launch early in the morning on Monday, July 1, on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral; the launch has now been delayed until at least July 3. The delay was triggered after technicians discovered "possible particulate contamination" on the spacecraft's top solar panel while installing the payload fairing on Thursday. The delay will give workers time to determine the composition of the contaminants and how they got there. CONTOUR, short for Comet Nucleus Tour, is a Discovery-class mission that will fly by the cores of two comets, Encke in 2003 and Schwassmann–Wachmann 3 in 2006. The launch window for CONTOUR remains open through July 25.