NROL-76 – Falcon 9 – Кеннеди LC-39A – 01.05.2017 11:15 UTC

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 2 мин. назад

SpaceX Falcon 9 (NROL-76) Static Fire slightly behind schedule. Looking at a NET 3 pm T-0 for the 3.5 second firing.

[tnt22]

‏ @CwG_NSF 4 мин. назад

It's OK for static fires to be behind schedule. They usually are. That's why there is a 6 hour long window.

[tnt22]

04/25/2017 21:35
Vapors streaming away from the Falcon 9 rocket a few minutes ago are a sign that fueling of the launcher has begun at pad 39A. The static fire test is believed to be targeted for around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT).

[Georgea]

Совершенно не вижу никакого пара...

[tnt22]

04/25/2017 21:45
In the final minutes of the countdown, the computer-controlled countdown sequencer will chill down the Merlin engines for ignition, pressurize the Falcon 9's propellant tanks and transfer the rocket to internal power.

[Georgea]

Готово

[Georgea]

Ну, вроде не рвануло ничего.

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 26 сек. назад

SpaceX Falcon 9 (NROL-76) Static Fire! http://original.livestream.com/spaceflightnow  Now for quick look data review. SpaceX will later tweet to confirm good test.

[tnt22]

SpaceXUpdates‏ @SpaceXUpdates 12 мин. назад

Looks to be nominal duration of 3.5 seconds.

[tnt22]

04/25/2017 22:05
The Falcon 9 rocket ignited at 3:02 p.m. EDT (1902 GMT) for a hotfire test in advance of Sunday's launch with a classified payload for the U.S. government. We are standing by for confirmation from SpaceX of a full-duration static fire test.

[tnt22]

SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 2 мин. назад

Static fire test complete. Targeting Falcon 9 launch of NROL-76 on Sunday, April 30.

[Зловредный]

Как-то у них сегодня всё прошло буднично-рутинно...

[tnt22]

https://zippy.gfycat.com/IncrediblePessimisticBalloonfish.webm
https://zippy.gfycat.com/IncrediblePessimisticBalloonfish.webm

[tnt22]

Ускорено в 4 раза
https://zippy.gfycat.com/UnluckySphericalBassethound.webm
https://zippy.gfycat.com/UnluckySphericalBassethound.webm

[tnt22]

Видео, 7.5 MB
https://cdn-e2.streamable.com/video/mp4/eruaj.mp4
https://cdn-e2.streamable.com/video/mp4/eruaj.mp4?token=1494358177_929bea04abb1ba4c0b5ce7faf5e38bd3a6c60cb1

[tnt22]

William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 8 мин. назад

F9/NROL76: Here's a view of the hot fire from the roof of the CBS bureau:
http://vid.mobypicture.com/e3e0be2326d8f4f2edf76bf66167d356.mp4

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/04/25/spacex-completes-static-fire-test-for-sunday-launch-of-secret-satellite/

SpaceX completes static fire test for Sunday launch of secret satellite
 April 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX's next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government's spy satellite agency.

The computer-controlled countdown sequencer oversaw filling of the two-stage rocket — mounted on launch pad 39A without its satellite passenger — with densified, super-chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants Tuesday morning.

Vapors venting fr om the rocket were a sign the hotfire test was imminent. SpaceX officials do not publicize the company's prelaunch activities.

The first stage's nine Merlin 1D engines ignited at 3:02 p.m. EDT (1902 GMT), sending a plume of exhaust out of the flame trench to the north of the launch pad. SpaceX confirmed the completion of the test on Twitter a few minutes later.

Спойлер

The engines ramped up to full throttle — around 1.7 million pounds of thrust — for several seconds. After shutdown, the rocket was to be drained of its propellants, lowered horizontal and returned to SpaceX's hangar at the southern edge of pad 39A, wh ere ground crews will connect the launcher to its satellite passenger.

Meanwhile, SpaceX engineers will analyze data from Tuesday's static fire test to ensure everything worked as advertised, and a launch readiness review is planned later this week to approve plans for this weekend's liftoff.

Launch Sunday is scheduled during a two-hour period opening at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT). The exact launch time has not been released.

 
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin 1D main engines Tuesday at launch pad 39A. Credit: SpaceX

The upcoming launch, the first by SpaceX since a successful mission with a resued first stage booster, will fly with an all-new Falcon 9 rocket. It will be the 33rd launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010, and the fifth SpaceX flight this year.

This will be SpaceX's first launch for the NRO, which typically puts its payloads on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.

But the NRO awarded SpaceX a sole-source launch contract for this mission, and SpaceX will be eligible to compete with ULA for more NRO missions laster this year.

The identity of the NRO payload riding aboard the Falcon 9 rocket has not been disclosed. Its destination orbit and purpose is also secret.

A hazard map released by the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing indicates a security zone will be established to the northeast of Cape Canaveral on Sunday, a hint that the Falcon 9 rocket will likely head northeast from Florida's Space Coast.

Such a trajectory would place the rocket's payload into a high-inclination orbit that could cover a swath of the planet from around 60 degrees north to 60 degrees south latitude.

The NRO is believed to have communications satellites in high-inclination egg-shaped Molniya-type orbits — with low and high points ranging from a few hundred miles up to around 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) — to relay detailed images from low-altitude spy spaceraft to intelligence analysts in nearly real-time.

Ted Molczan, a respected tracker of satellite movements, believes the mission is likely a follow-on to the NRO's series of relay satellites in Molniya orbits or an experimental payload bound for low Earth orbit.

SpaceX plans to land the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage at Cape Canaveral less than 10 minutes after Sunday's launch. It will be the third time the company has tried to recover a Falcon 9 booster on land — all successful.

SpaceX's other rocket landing attempts have targeted a mobile platform in the ocean downrange from the launch site, using a subset of the booster's Merlin engines to point to the landing site and slow down just before a vertical touchdown.

The return-to-land descent profile requires more fuel than an ocean landing, suggesting the payload aboard Sunday's launch will either go to a low-altitude orbit or is very lightweight.

SpaceX previously said the company's webcast of the launch will end shortly after liftoff, as is the case with NRO missions on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets. But SpaceX's live video coverage is expected to continue through the first stage landing at Cape Canaveral.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

SFT с иной точки съёмки х... качества
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZFcWAz53Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZFcWAz53Y (1:38 )

[tnt22]

http://imgur.com/a/67CHj

SpaceX Static Fire

Спойлер

[свернуть]

[zandr]

https://ria.ru/space/20170426/1493120308.html

SpaceX впервые осуществит запуск спутника для американской разведки
ВАШИНГТОН, 26 апр – РИА Новости. Частная компания SpaceX в воскресенье впервые осуществит запуск секретного спутника для разведки США, сообщает портал Space Flight Now по итогам прошедшего во вторник огневого испытания ракеты-носителя Falcon 9.
"Огневое испытание завершено. Планируем запуск миссии NROL-76 в воскресенье 30 апреля", — сообщила компания в своем аккаунте в Twitter. Как отмечает в связи с этим Space Flight Now, это будет первый запуск компании "секретного груза для национального разведуправления".
Старт ракеты-носителя с секретным спутником состоится с космодрома на мысе Канаверал (Флорида) в промежутке между 7-9 утра воскресенья по времени Восточного побережья США (14–16 мск).
"Успешный запуск NROL-76 откроет дверь для высокодоходных контрактов по обслуживанию в сфере национальной безопасности", — отмечает в связи с предстоящим стартом онлайн-издание Nasa Space Flight. До настоящего времени запуски для военных США осуществляла частная компания United Launch Alliance.
Каждому старту Falcon 9 предшествует предполетное огневое испытание. После взрыва ракеты в ходе аналогичного испытания в сентябре прошлого года, компания проводит их без полезной нагрузки.
Традиционно для большинства запусков SpaceX, компания планирует осуществить посадку первой ступени ракеты на площадку неподалеку от места старта. Трансляция приземления будет идти на сайте компании, сам старт ракеты будут показывать лишь в течение нескольких минут из-за секретности миссии.