These are not the best of conditions.
But for these knights of the highway, hauling a multimillion-dollar spacecraft more than
800 miles is all in a day’s work.
They’re carrying NASA’s next planet-hunter, TESS.
TESS stands for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
Its job is to search for habitable planets outside our solar system -- but close enough
to study.
That’s because we’re not just looking for planets, we’re looking for life.
And the first leg of this spacecraft's journey to orbit is the ride to the NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center.
"So we left yesterday for Dulles.
We left at 10:15 in the morning.
Ran into an accident on I-95.
Horrible weather, rain down through Richmond."
The 16-hour road trip from Virginia to Florida wasn’t easy, and protecting this one-of-a-kind
spacecraft during its move was vital.
Its shipping container is designed to keep TESS safe on the road.
"The case gets used for a number of missions.
It’s mounted on shock-absorbing bumpers so that we don’t see a lot of the road noise
getting into the spacecraft while in transit.
We don’t want any humidity inside.
We don’t want the temperature to change, so we have an air conditioning system as well.
So we’re just trying to keep it environmentally stable on the trip.
And then we have very sensitive science instruments.
So we actually provide a nitrogen purge, in which we spray nitrogen gas in to make sure
no air gets in contact with some of the sensitive components."
TESS has safely made it to Kennedy, where it is immediately taken to the Payload Hazardous
Servicing Facility.
But the job of keeping it clean is far from over.
"TESS has really strict contamination control requirements.
So what we’ve done is created a clean enclosure inside the high bay that acts like a cleanroom
within a cleanroom, basically."
This is a unique mission full of first-time events that are sure to be a challenge.
"TESS isn’t like another mission.
We haven’t done another TESS.
It’s the first of its kind."
The time has come for this diverse team to put years of planning into practice as they
begin the countdown to T-Zero.
"We’ve had a period of hard work that lasted for years.
And when we finally get to point of launch, that’s very exciting.
This is where the fun begins, after we’ve gotten through all the early legwork and planning
– that we are actually going to now prepare a spacecraft for launch."
Building on the groundbreaking discoveries of the Kepler mission, TESS has scientists
across the world excited about its possibilities.
"ESS is probably one of the most interesting spacecraft that I’ve ever worked on in my
career, because of the science it’s bringing back down to Earth.
It’s taking science fiction to science fact."
TESS will use the transit method to hunt for the telltale signs of planets orbiting other
stars.
In the transit method, the spacecraft watches the sky, and when a planet passes in front
of a star, the star’s light briefly dims.
But Kepler only looked at one portion of the sky.
TESS is taking this search to a whole new level.
"What TESS is going to do is look around entire sky around us to find stars nearby, much closer
– ten times closer – than Kepler."
"The really exciting part about this is it’s the first all-sky survey of this type, using
the transiting method to look for Earth-sized and super-Earth planets."
"I think the real interest by the public in exoplanets is that everyone has a dream there’s
an Earth analog out there, another planet that has the ability to have an atmosphere,
water, and sustain life on it.
That, of course, is the ultimate sort of goal of exoplanet science."
When all the prelaunch tests, inspections, cleaning and checkouts are done, it’s time
for TESS to join up with its launch vehicle: the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
This is a critical process.
And it begins with encapsulation.
This is the Falcon 9 payload fairing.
Its smooth, aerodynamic profile will give TESS a safe ride through the extreme heat
and pressure of the climb to space.
The vehicle systems engineer in NASA’s Launch Services Program plays a critical role in
bringing the spacecraft and rocket together.
"We have our hands on just about everything.
We have to know about each system to know how they all interact together.
We have to know how the vehicle operates as a whole, so that’s how critical vehicle
systems engineering is in this whole process.
We’ve been working very closely with SpaceX from the start.
Even during the design phase and going through the whole certification process, the vehicle
systems engineer is integral in that role, to understand what’s going on with the SpaceX
launch vehicle and how the NASA team can supplement a lot of what’s going on."
The fairing is in one piece as it arrives at the door to the high bay.
Inside, the TESS spacecraft is ready and waiting for encapsulation.
"What’s exciting about encapsulation is, it’s one of last few things we do to prepare
the spacecraft to get ready to go on the launch vehicle.
It’s exciting, because you know we’re launching in a few days, which is the most
exciting part of working this mission the past couple years."
TESS has to be ready for prime time when it gets into orbit – which means the last of
its covers used during processing have to come off.
Once TESS is inside the fairing, it won’t be seen again on Earth.
The payload fairing has been opened into two halves, and they’re positioned on either
side of TESS.
The spacecraft is surrounded.
Slowly and carefully, the fairings are moved into position, until TESS is locked inside.
"Encapsulation’s just been completed.
Right now they’re getting ready to lift the spacecraft – the encapsulated spacecraft
– on the trailer, which will then transport it to the launch site.
From there they’ll mate the encapsulated spacecraft to the launch vehicle, and at that
point, that’s the last major thing before we get ready to launch.
And that is exciting."
A specialized transporter rolls into the processing facility’s high bay.
It’s here to take the payload fairing and its precious cargo to be attached to the Falcon
9 rocket.
Getting TESS to this point was no small feat.
It took several teams working closely together to ensure every system and every piece of
hardware are ready for this mission.
With the crane doing the heavy lifting, the fairing rises off the floor.
It’s guided toward the transporter, with team members helping, every inch of the way.
The fairing must be attached securely to the transporter for the final miles of its journey
on Earth.
There is no margin for error.
The Falcon 9 rocket is waiting.
"The Falcon 9 for the TESS mission is a new launch vehicle.
We are planning to recover the first stage from the TESS mission on the drone ship Of
Course I Still Love You.
If successful, this will be the 24th successful booster landing for SpaceX.
By recovering first stages, not only do we understand more about our launch vehicle,
it also enables us to reuse and re-fly that hardware, which is a key part of the SpaceX
mission."
The fully assembled Falcon 9 rocket, with TESS on board, rolls out of the hanger at
Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
It's final stop - the launch pad.
"The SpaceX team is really proud to be part of such a cool mission, the TESS mission.
The TESS satellite is looking for planets outside of our solar system in our galaxy,
which aligns very well with the SpaceX vision to make life multiplanetary.
To prepare for rocket to be vertical on pad today, the engineering team in hangar did
those final, last checks; mated the fairing to the rocket; and once the launch vehicle
was finally checked out, the rocket rolled out of hangar late last night and went vertical
early this morning.
TESS is healthy.
The Falcon 9 rocket stands ready.
It’s time for the final count.
T-Zero is just seconds away.
"So launch day is a pretty incredible day.
Those last few minutes, you’re holding your breath – you find yourself holding your
breath until you get that T-Zero count.
I lead a team of LSP engineers to successfully launch our spacecraft into orbit."
"The SpaceX team has partnered with the NASA Launch Services Program, NASA Goddard [Space
Flight Center], Orbital ATK and MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] to enable that planet-finding
mission."
"We go on console three-and-a-half or four hours before launch.
We do our voice checks to be sure we can activate all the voice channels that we’ll need to
listen to at any one point in time.
We listen to six or seven voice channels at same time so you’re kind of training your
ears to listen for your call sign.
The team has a great responsibility to look at all this data and say yes, we are go for
launch."
"LD go for launch."
"Falcon 9 is in startup.
Falcon 9 is configured for flight."
"...three, two, one, zero.
Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying TESS."