Форум Новости Космонавтики

ЦитироватьThe harbor at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California received a Delta 4 rocket last week, dropping anchor aboard the Delta Mariner cargo ship after transit from the manufacturing plant in Alabama.

The United Launch Alliance rocket is scheduled to lift off in April from Space Launch Complex 6 at the base, on the classified NROL-45 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Спойлер

"Months of work went into the Mariner's arrival, by everyone from the contractors, to ULA, to the base personnel," said Capt. Crystal Hamilton, 4th Space Launch Squadron launch mission manager. "The Delta 4 that arrived on the Mariner actually traveled from the production facility at Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral Air Station for initial processing, before making its way through the Gulf of Mexico, Panama Canal and up the coastline to Vandenberg."

The harbor is a leftover part of the base's space shuttle infrastructure built in the 1980s. The dock would have received the external fuel tank barge. Now, it is used exclusively by the Mariner.

"The Delta rocket travels by boat because it's too large to be transported any other way," said Maj. Lawrence Ware, 4th SLS director of operations.

"Our role is to provide mission assurance for Evolved Expendable Launch vehicles for the Air Force at Vandenberg. What that means is we work with ULA and monitor their operations to ensure they're complying with the contract set up with the Air Force and we help manage their risk all the way from the hardware arrival to the day of launch when the rocket leaves the pad. It has been a great experience. Nothing is better than being out on the beach, watching the sun come up, and being able to unload a 250 million dollar rocket off the back of a ship. This is definitely one of the highlights of being at this base and not too many people can say they do this for a living."

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ЦитироватьВиктор Воропаев пишет:
Вечно бдительный пёс должен быть четвёртым "Топазом", и никаких альтернативных версий пока не высказывалось?

ЦитироватьDelta IV to Launch NROL-45
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/235318.jpg)
Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Medium+ (5.2) rocket will launch the NROL-55 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

Date/Site/Launch Time: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Launch Notes: NROL-55 will be the 31st Delta IV mission since the vehicle's inaugural launch in 2002, and the 9th NRO mission to launch on Delta IV.

Mission Description: The mission will be launched for the National Reconnaissance Office in support of national defense.

Launch Updates: To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at facebook.com/ulalaunch (https://facebook.com/ulalaunch), twitter.com/ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) and instagram.com/ulalaunch (https://instagram.com/ulalaunch); hashtags #NROL45 and #DeltaIV.

Go Delta! Go NROL-45!

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
http://www.ulalaunch.com/delta-iv-to-launch-nrol45.aspx?title=Delta+IV+to+Launch+NROL-45&Category=2 (http://www.ulalaunch.com/delta-iv-to-launch-nrol45.aspx?title=Delta+IV+to+Launch+NROL-45&Category=2)

ЦитироватьDelta IV to Launch NROL-45
 
 Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Medium+ (5.2) rocket will launch the NROL-55 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).


 Launch Notes: NROL-55 will be the 31st Delta IV mission since the vehicle's inaugural launch in 2002, and the 9th NRO mission to launch on Delta IV.


Go Delta! Go NROL-45!

ЦитироватьULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) Feb 7 (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/696100020756545536)

Can't share launch time yet, but #DeltaIV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeltaIV?src=hash) #NROL45 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NROL45?src=hash) webcast will begin Feb. 10 at 3:19am PST.

ЦитироватьVandenberg Air Force Base is scheduled to launch a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload from Space Launch Complex-6 on Wednesday, with a launch window opening at 3:39 a.m. PDT.

Спойлер

Col. J. Christopher Moss, 30th Space Wing commander, will be the launch decision authority.

"We are excited and ready to take on our first Delta launch of 2016," Moss said. "We are proud to showcase this national capability, and everyone involved has been working tirelessly to ensure this launch is a safe and successful one."

Vandenberg's 4th Space Launch Squadron was in final launch preparations with Vandenberg's mission partners from ULA, the Aerospace Corp. and the National Reconnaissance Office, a base spokesman said this afternoon.

"A launch like this takes teamwork and dedication," said Lt. Col. Eric Zarybnisky, 4th Space Launch Squadron commander.

"Our mission assurance technicians and engineers have worked hand-in-hand with United Launch Alliance, going over critical procedures and tasks to certify this launch is secure," Zarybnisky said.

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ЦитироватьThe Mobile Assembly Shelter or MAS is rolled back to its launch position in preparation for liftoff of the Delta IV rocket carrying the NROL-45 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

ЦитироватьULAVerified account ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) 14h ago (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/696881843073916933)

Forecast shows a 100% chance of favorable weather for Feb.10 #DeltaIV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeltaIV?src=hash) #NROL45 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NROL45?src=hash) launch!

Цитировать0738 GMT (11:38 p.m. local)
The valve issue has been resolved and the workers are leaving the launch pad. Countdown activities will be resuming shortly.

0722 GMT (11:22 p.m. local)
Mission officials have directed a special team to return to the launch pad for the manual adjustment of an unresponsive valve. This will delay the start of fueling until the hazard area around Space Launch Complex 6 is clear again. There's currently no impact to the 3:39 a.m. launch time since the countdown has margin to deal with issues like this.

ЦитироватьSpaceflight Now ‏@SpaceflightNow  (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow) 3m ago (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/697339001003511808)

ULA team is active fueling first stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen

ЦитироватьNEW LAUNCH TIME. Liftoff time has been adjusted slightly to 3:40:32 a.m. local (6:40:32 a.m. EST; 11:40:32 GMT).

ЦитироватьULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) 1m ago (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/697381015568936961)

#DeltaIV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeltaIV?src=hash) #NROL65 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NROL65?src=hash) weather is 60% favorable. On track for 3:40:32am PST launch.

ЦитироватьOlegIn пишет:

TimKaz  , обшивка. Они так то всегда горят, когда меньше когда больше. Специфическая ракета )

ЦитироватьOlegIn пишет:
TimKaz , обшивка. Они так то всегда горят, когда меньше когда больше. Специфическая ракета )

ЦитироватьOlegIn пишет:

TimKaz, обшивка.

ЦитироватьOlegIn пишет:

просто возможно утечки несгоревшего сначала большие.

ЦитироватьВАШИНГТОН, 10 фев — РИА Новости. Ракета Delta 4 стартовала с космодрома в Калифорнии со спутником для Национального управления военно-космической разведки США (NRO). Трансляцию запуска ведет компания United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Старт принадлежащей ULA ракеты-носителя с космодрома на базе ВВС США Ванденберг (Калифорния) был дан в 14:40 мск. Ракета выводит на орбиту разведывательный спутник для нужд обеспечения национальной обороны, подробности не сообщаются.

Ракета Delta разработана и производится входящей в альянс ULA компанией Boeing.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) 33 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/697385384167215104)

The 4 solid rocket boosters have been jettisoned #NROL45 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NROL45?src=hash) #DeltaIV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeltaIV?src=hash)

ЦитироватьТангаж пишет:

Оказывается, 2 бустера хитро замаскировали

ЦитироватьThis particular version of the Delta 4 has flown only once before and it followed the same unique track to space, flying southwest from Vandenberg into a retrograde orbit against the Earth's natural rotation.

Based on those characteristics, space-watching sleuths such as Ted Molczan, a respected expert in satellite observing, say NROL-45 almost certainly launched Topaz 4, the fourth in a series of radar-imaging satellites built by Boeing for the National Reconnaissance Office.

"The payload is FIA Radar 4, aka Topaz 4," Molczan said. "That the codename of the FIA Radar series is Topaz was revealed in budget documents leaked by Edward Snowden."

Such observatories are complementary to electro-optical telescopes that provide exquisite-quality imagery of the world.

The Topaz birds probably use a synthetic aperture radar system to observe strategic targets around the globe in both daylight and darkness, can pierce clouds and even reveal underground structures like military bunkers to inform policy makers and warfighters.

These advanced radar spacecraft follow the heritage of five "Lacrosse" birds put up by the space shuttle Atlantis and Titan 4 rockets between 1988 and 2005 from both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.

Lacrosse satellites orbited in normal, 420-mile-high perches, but the Topaz craft fly retrograde, or against the Earth's rotation, about 685 miles up at 123 degrees inclination to the equator. The rationale for the different type of orbit isn't known.

The Topaz satellites are part of the NRO's Future Imagery Architecture program.

TOPAZ 1 (NROL-41) Atlas 5 launched Sept. 21, 2010
TOPAZ 2 (NROL-25) Delta 4 launched April 3, 2012
TOPAZ 3 (NROL-39) Atlas 5 launched Dec. 6, 2013
TOPAZ 4 (NROL-45) Delta 4 launched Feb. 10, 2016

TOPAZ 5 (NROL-47) Delta 4...planned in 2017

ЦитироватьA Delta IV rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-6 carrying the NROL-45 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.