GEORGE DILLER: We have with us here now Chuck Dovale, the NASA launch manager for today's countdown. Chuck, it looked like things went fairly smoothly today. CHUCK DOVALE: What a, what a difference a day makes, George. I mean, it couldn't have been any smoother and, in light of yesterday's count, it was certainly a welcomed event. Didn't work anything of significance in the count. The range and the launch vehicle and the spacecraft all cooperated during the, during the long count, and we were able to launch right at the beginning of the window. It was great. DILLER: Does the spacecraft look like it's where it should be? DOVALE: Yes. Initial looks at the orbital parameters looked very good, and prior to coming over, we did hear that the JAXA control center, the Japanese site that was helping us out, had acquired the spacecraft. So things are proceeding very well. DILLER: Well, I guess we almost are prepared to look forward to our next Atlas V, which is not that long from now, actually. What's the mission? DOVALE: Pluto New Horizons, and currently scheduled for January 11. And it is the actual next Atlas mission for Lockheed as well, so another huge endeavor for us, and we're looking forward to that and on the heels of a great start for MRO. DILLER: Well, Chuck, we just got confirmation that the solar arrays on MRO are drawing power, we're power positive and it appears that we're going exactly as we would like as far as the deployment sequence on the spacecraft. So... DOVALE: Excellent. DILLER: With that, I think, Chuck, we're ready to conclude our commentary here as well, for the day. Thank you for coming over and talking with us. We're, we're going well now with a good launch and a good mission. Thanks very much. DOVALE: Thanks, George.
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ksc_081205_mro_dovale
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August 12, 2005
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