Cygnus COTS Demo - Antares-110 - 18.09.2013 - Wallops/MARS LP-0A

[morpheus]

Пресс-релиз http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=868
И программа полета описана:

Orbital Rolls Out Antares Rocket to Wallops Launch Pad for COTS Demonstration Mission to International Space Station
-- Launch of Company's First Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Aboard Antares Rocket Targeted for Next Tuesday, September 17 --
-- COTS Demonstration Mission to Pave the Way for Regularly Scheduled ISS Supply Flights Beginning Late This Year --

(Dulles, VA 13 September 2013) – Earlier today, Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) rolled out its Antares™ rocket that will launch the company's first Cygnus™ spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for its demonstration mission under the Commercial Orbital Transportations Services (COTS) joint development program with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Orbital is currently targeting Tuesday, September 17 for the launch during a 15-minute window from 11:16 to 11:31 a.m. (EDT). During the mission, the Antares rocket will boost the Cygnus spacecraft into a parking orbit of approximately 245 x 300 kilometers in altitude, inclined at 51.6° to the equator. Live coverage of the COTS demonstration mission will be available on NASA Television and at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Roll-out operations began at about 2:30 a.m., with the Antares rocket first emerging from its Horizontal Integration Facility at about 3:45 a.m. this morning. The rocket was transported about one mile to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch complex, known as Pad 0A, aboard the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL), a specialized vehicle that also raised the rocket to a vertical position on the launch pad and serves as a support interface between the rocket and the launch complex's systems. By about 1:00 p.m., Antares was in a fully vertical position on the launch pad.

Following its launch by the Antares rocket, Cygnus will conduct an extensive series of in-orbit maneuvers and demonstrations over a five-day period to verify that all onboard operating systems are functioning properly and that ground controllers at Orbital's Mission Control Center (MCC), located at the company's Dulles, VA campus, are able to command, control and communicate with the spacecraft as designed and extensively rehearsed. Assuming a September 17 launch, Orbital and NASA are currently targeting the morning of Sunday, September 22, for the Cygnus rendezvous, grapple and berthing operations with the ISS at an altitude of about 415 kilometers above the Earth. On its demonstration mission, Cygnus will deliver approximately 700 kilograms of cargo, including food and clothing, to the Expedition 37 crew, which will also load Cygnus with disposal cargo prior to its departure from the station approximately 30 days later.

Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Today's roll-out of the fully integrated Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft, along with this weekend's on-pad testing and readiness review, are the final steps leading up to next week's launch of our COTS demonstration mission. This mission will mark the completion of a five-year journey that NASA and our company embarked on in 2008 to create a new medium-class rocket, a sophisticated logistics spacecraft and a world-class launch site at the Wallops Flight Facility."

Following a successful COTS demonstration mission, Orbital plans to begin regularly scheduled cargo supply missions under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA later this year. Orbital is currently scheduled to launch the first of eight CRS missions to the ISS as early as December. All CRS flights will originate from NASA's Wallops base, which is geographically well suited for ISS missions and can also accommodate launches of scientific, defense and commercial satellites to other orbits.

[Salo]

Выложили много информации по ракете, кораблю и миссии:
http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-D1/

[anik]

NSF сообщает, что пуск отложен на сутки.

[Space Alien]

Launch window of Antares and Cygnus for #cotsdemo mission on Setember 18 would be 10:50 to 11:05 am EDT

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences/status/378903629412851712

[che wi]

[Victor123]

che wi пишет:
 

Афигеть! Мне кажется его нужно было поставить вертикально и так загружать.

[Salo]

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences/status/378908038981115904

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences   Company statement on 24 hour delay for #Antares and #Cygnus launch for #cotsdemo: http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/ 

6:48 PM - 14 Sep 13

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences/status/378918066106540032

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences   @AvWeekGuy Cable not "on" launch vehicle. Connects ground equipment with rocket. Just to clarify.

7:28 PM - 14 Sep 13

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/

Antares Launch Update
September 2013

Following a launch review meeting held earlier this morning, Orbital's Antares team has decided to postpone the launch of the COTS Demonstration mission from Wallops Island, VA by at least 24 hours.

The combination of yesterday's poor weather that delayed roll-out of the rocket to the launch pad and a technical issue that was identified during a combined systems test held last night involving communications between ground equipment and the rocket's flight computer drove the decision to delay the launch.

After comprehensive inspection and testing this morning, the problem was found and turned out to be an inoperative cable, which is being replaced.  Orbital will repeat the combined systems test later today.  Once that important test is successfully completed, the team will be able to proceed toward a September 18 launch.

The launch window on September 18 is from 10:50 to 11:05 a.m. (EDT)

[mr-vovik]

Victor123 пишет:

che wi пишет:
 

Афигеть! Мне кажется его нужно было поставить вертикально и так загружать.

Да уж... привод (?) от бытовой дрели (2 шт - рядом со штурвалом передвижения и на стреле) тоже впечатляет!

[SFN]

mr-vovik пишет:
Да уж... привод (?) от бытовой дрели (2 шт - рядом со штурвалом передвижения и на стреле) тоже впечатляет!  

Насколько я знаю, загрузочное копье делали алени в Турине, все вопросы к ним.

[Liss]

А никто не помнит, это будет минимальный интервал между двумя орбитальными пусками с Уоллопса?

!CARF 09/089 (KZNY A0593/13) ZNY AIRSPACE DCC ANTARES ORB D1 STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 2403N/6333W 2729N/5844W 2129N/5318W 1803N/5329W 1803N/5801W SFC-UNL WEF 1309171500-1309171615

!CARF 09/097 (KZNY A0596/13) ZNY AIRSPACE DCC ANTARES ORB D1 STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 2403N/6333W 2729N/5844W 2129N/5318W 1803N/5329W 1803N/5801W SFC-UNL WEF 1309181445-1309181545

[Александр Ч.]

Макет:

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/

COTS Demonstration Mission Update
September 2013

 Late Saturday night, September 14, Orbital successfully completed the Combined Systems Test (CST), an important step in the preparations for the Antares launch of the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft to the International Space Station for the COTS Demonstration Mission.  The CST ensures that all range assets, electrical ground service equipment, the rocket and spacecraft systems are all functioning and communicating as required during actual launch operations.  The first attempt at completing the CST on Friday was interrupted when an inoperative communications cable was discovered and later replaced.

[Salo]

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences/status/379666623000768512

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences

Launch Readiness Review complete. We are go for a Wednesday 10:50 am launch. #COTSDemo #Antares #Cygnus

16 сентября 13 в 11:02 утра

[Salo]

[Salo]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/sets/72157635567095086/

[che wi]

Новый пресс-релиз от Orbital:
http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=869

Orbital Set to Launch COTS Demonstration Mission to International Space Station Tomorrow

-- Upcoming Mission Represents Final Milestone in the Development of Antares Launch Vehicle and Cygnus Cargo Logistics Spacecraft --

(Dulles, VA 17 September 2013) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world's leading space technology companies, today announced it is prepared to launch its Antares rocket carrying the company's new Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow morning. The launch is currently planned to take place on Wednesday, September 18, with lift-off scheduled at 10:50 a.m. (EDT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, VA. Antares will launch Cygnus into a targeted orbit of 245 x 300 kilometers, inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator. Following in-orbit activation shortly after launch, Cygnus will carry out a series of tests and maneuvers over a four-day period to demonstrate its readiness to rendezvous and berth with the station, now planned for Sunday, September 22.

Спойлер

"Antares is the largest and most complex rocket Orbital has ever produced," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's President and Chief Executive Officer. "After its flawless inaugural flight in April, we have been actively preparing for this next critical, much-anticipated milestone. Likewise, Cygnus is one of the most sophisticated spacecraft Orbital has developed and built. As an integral part of the Space Station program, it meets NASA's requirements for a human-rated level of safety. Our engineering and operations teams are very excited to be on the threshold of launching and conducting this mission, which they have been working toward for the last five years."

The goal of the mission is to demonstrate the capability of Orbital's cargo transportation system to reliably deliver cargo to the ISS, which will lead to regularly scheduled missions beginning as early as December. This demonstration flight is the final milestone in Orbital's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint research and development initiative with NASA. Under the COTS program, which began in 2008, NASA and Orbital developed Cygnus, which meets the stringent human-rated safety requirements for ISS operations. Orbital also privately developed the Antares launch vehicle to provide low-cost, reliable access to space for medium-class payloads. Together, these elements are being used for the COTS flight demonstration of Orbital's commercial cargo supply capability to the ISS.

Pending the successful completion of the COTS program, Orbital will begin regularly scheduled cargo delivery missions to the ISS under its $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Under the CRS contract, Orbital will deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms of net cargo to the ISS over eight missions through 2016. For these missions, NASA will manifest a variety of essential items based on ISS program needs, including food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts and equipment, and scientific experiments.

[свернуть]

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[Bizonich]

Salo, спасибо за видео. Нравится мне Антарес, своей обтекаемостью и внешним видом, что-ли. Похож он МБР.

[che wi]

Метеорологи оценивают вероятность хорошей погоды для Cygnus в 75%
http://ria.ru/science/20130918/963883532.html

МОСКВА, 18 сен — РИА Новости. Метеорологи дают благоприятный прогноз для запланированного на среду запуска ракеты "Антарес" с частным грузовым кораблем Cygnus с космодрома на острове Уоллопс на восточном побережье США.

Директор испытательных программ космодрома Сара Догерти (Sarah Daugherty) сообщила, что вероятность благоприятной для запуска погоды составляет 75%.

"С точки зрения готовности к запуску это очень хороший прогноз", — сказала она в ходе пресс-конференции.

По словам Догерти, существует небольшая вероятность появления низкой облачности, но проблем с этим не будет.

Грузовик Cygnus ("Лебедь"), разработанный Orbital Sciences в рамках контракта с НАСА по доставке грузов на МКС, станет вторым в истории частным космическим грузовиком. Первый такой грузовик — Dragon, созданный компанией SpaceX по контракту с НАСА — совершил уже два регулярных рейса к космической станции.

[LL_]