NASA Launch Rescheduled for July 22 -- Test Article To Splashdown off North Carolina Coast

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Jul 19, 2012, 05:40 ET

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA managers are rescheduling the launch of an inflatable heat shield technology demonstration flight from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., until no earlier than Sunday, July 22.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) launch was postponed for one day to allow for additional testing of launch vehicle systems. NASA has three consecutive days of launch opportunities for IRVE-3, with a liftoff window from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT each day.

IRVE-3 is part of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) Project within the Game Changing Development Program, part of NASA's Space Technology Program.

The demonstrator is scheduled for launch on a Black Brant XI sounding rocket from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore between 6 and 8 a.m. and land about 20 minutes later in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 100 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

A map showing the avoidance areas for mariners is available at

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home/marine.html

Further information on this mission including how to view the launch on the Internet and following the countdown on Twitter and Facebook is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/wallops

NASA Television will air the IRVE-3 launch live and stream it on the agency's website at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Further information on the IRVE-3 is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/hiad

SOURCE NASA