Solar Orbiter (SolO) – Atlas V 411 – Canaveral SLC-41 – 10.02.2020 – 07:05 ДМВ

Автор Andrey Samoilov, 10.12.2013 23:48:15

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PIN

Время пуска узнаем только пост-фактум. В каждый из нескольких дней февраля есть 2х часовое окно, сообщаться будет его начало на планируемую дату.

zandr

https://sci.esa.int/web/solar-orbiter/-/solar-orbiter-ready-to-depart-europe
ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter ready to depart Europe
18 October 2019

 ESA's Solar Orbiter mission has completed its test campaign in Europe and is now being packed ready for its journey to Cape Canaveral at the end of this month, ahead of launch in February 2020.  Artist's impression of Solar Orbiter. Credit: ESA/ATG medialabThe spacecraft was on display today for the final time in Europe, at the IABG test centre near Munich, Germany. It was built at Airbus Stevenage, UK, and has spent the last year at IABG undergoing essential testing such as checking deployment mechanisms, and that it can withstand the vibrations of launch, and the thermal extremes and vacuum of space. It has now been declared ready for shipment to the launch site and will travel an Antonov cargo plane on 31 October.

Solar Orbiter at IABG. Credit: ESA – S. Corvaja
"The mission"
Once launched it will follow an elliptical path around the Sun, at its closest bringing it within the orbit of Mercury, just 42 million kilometres from the Sun. As such, Sun-facing parts of the spacecraft have to withstand temperatures of more than 500°C – due to solar radiation thirteen times more intense than for Earth-orbiting satellites – while other parts remain in shadow at -180°C.


The mission is essential to learn more about the Sun-Earth connection. We live inside a giant bubble of plasma generated by the Sun that surrounds the entire Solar System, within which we are prey to space weather. Solar Orbiter will provide a deeper understanding as to how activity on the Sun is linked to these solar storms, which can disrupt electrical systems, satellite communications, GPS, and create higher doses of radiation for polar flights and astronauts


[свернуть]
Цитировать"Solar Orbiter is set for answering some of the biggest scientific questions about our star, and its data will help us to better protect our planet from the global challenges of space weather," says Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science.

Цитировать"Thanks to the hard work of our teams building and testing this inspiring space mission, we've reached an important milestone today in Europe, and the spacecraft will now be readied for its final phase of pre-launch preparations at Cape Canaveral."

Solar Orbiter will launch on a NASA-provided Atlas V 411. The launch is currently scheduled in the early hours of 6 February (UTC). Once in space, and over the course of several years, it will use the gravity of Venus and Earth to raise its orbit above the poles of the Sun, providing new perspectives on our star, including the first images of the Sun's polar regions.
Спойлер
Its complementary suite of instruments means it will be able to study the plasma environment locally around the spacecraft, and collect data from the Sun from afar, connecting the dots between the Sun's activity, and the space environment in the inner Solar System.
Solar Orbiter is an ESA mission with strong NASA participation. The prime contractor is Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK. It follows in the legacy of missions such as Ulysses (1990-2009) and SOHO (1995-present) and will also provide complementary datasets to NASA's Parker Solar Probe that will allow more science to be distilled from the two missions than either could achieve on their own.

For more information please contact:
ESA Newsroom and Media Relations
 Email: mediaesa.int

[свернуть]

zandr

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-media-to-launch-of-solar-orbiter-spacecraft
Цитировать... The spacecraft will launch at 11:15 p.m. on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. NASA's Launch Services Program is managing the launch.
...

tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/10/22/british-built-solar-probe-shipping-to-florida-launch-site-before-brexit-deadline/
ЦитироватьBritish-built solar probe shipping to Florida launch site before Brexit deadline
October 22, 2019 | Stephen Clark


The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is ready for shipment fr om a test center in Ottobrunn, Germany, to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final launch preparations. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft — assembled in Britain and set for liftoff in February — has completed environmental testing in Germany and is scheduled to ride a cargo plane to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin launch preparations Oct. 31, several weeks earlier than planned to avoid complications stemming fr om Brexit.

The robotic solar probe will be packaged inside a pristine shipping container for the trans-Atlantic flight from Germany to the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at Kennedy. Ground teams will then transport the spacecraft to the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville for final functional tests, fueling and encapsulation inside the payload shroud of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

The mission is jointly managed and funded by ESA, individual European member states, and NASA, with the U.S. space agency responsible for providing a launch for Solar Orbiter.

Liftoff of the Atlas 5 with Solar Orbiter from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad is scheduled during a two-hour window opening at 11:27 p.m. EST (0427 GMT on Feb. 6), according to Tim Dunn, the NASA launch director for the mission.

Airbus Defense and Space built the Solar Orbiter spacecraft at the company's facility in Stevenage, England, north of London. The spacecraft departed the Airbus factory last year to begin a year-long test series at IABG in Ottobrunn, Germany, near Munich.

Solar Orbiter recently finished testing in Germany, and engineers confirmed the spacecraft can withstand the vibrations of launch and the extreme environmental conditions of space.

Günther Hasinger, the director of science programs at ESA, said mission managers decided to ship the spacecraft from its test site in Germany to the United States before the United Kingdom's current date to leave the European Union on Oct. 31.

"There was a worry at some point, if a hard Brexit were to happen on the 31st of October, this could actually cause some severe disturbances in terms of customs," Hasinger said. "It was a kind of risk mitigation assessment. We said let's ship as early as possible just to avoid any turbulence."

Although the spacecraft is currently in Germany, much of the hardware on Solar Orbiter originated in Britain, which raises export concerns related to Brexit, officials said. The date for Brexit, and whether Britain will leave the EU with or without a withdrawal agreement, remained unclear as of Tuesday.

The United Kingdom will remain a member state of ESA.

After launch, Solar Orbiter, or SolO, will use use gravitational assist flybys with Earth and Venus, placing the spacecraft in an orbit inside that of Mercury in 2022. Working in tandem with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter will provide scientists will detailed measurements of the solar wind, and search for the drivers behind massive eruptions like solar flares.

"Solar Orbiter is clearly a new class in its own," Hasinger said. "It has loads of instruments, which will go not as close as Parker Solar Probe, but quite close. Solar Orbiter will also have eyes. Parker Solar Probe can only sense and measure the plasma and the magnetic field, but Solar Orbiter also has six instruments that can really look at the sun, which is quite a challenge when you think it is reaching an environment wh ere it's about 600 degrees Celsius (1,100 degrees Fahrenheit). It's like being in a pizza oven, so you have to make sure that you don't burn the instruments."

Parker Solar Probe , launched last year, faces much hotter conditions, wh ere scorching temperatures would melt any camera exposed to the sun.


Artist's concept of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

The planetary flybys will also use gravity to nudge Solar Orbiter into an inclined orbit around the sun, outside of the plane of the planets.

"One additional interesting element that has never been done before is that Solar Orbiter will be able to image the poles of the sun," Hasinger said. "There are still mysteries around our understanding of the energy sources in the sun that produces the magnetic field and solar flares. A lot of people now think that some of the mysteries are actually hidden in the poles, which we have never seen."

Scientists say the polar regions may also play a role in regulating the sun's 11-year cycle.

ESA funded more than half of Solar Orbiter's budget, and development of the mission took a few years longer than anticipated. When ESA approved the mission in 2012, Solar Orbiter was planned for launch in 2017.

The rest of the funding came from NASA and European member states, which paid for Solar Orbiter's launch and scientific instruments.

"If you add up everything, it ends up in the 1.4 to 1.5 billion euro ($1.5 billion to $1.7 billion) range," Hasinger said.

Before Solar Orbiter's launch in February, ULA plans another Atlas 5 launch set for Dec. 17 carrying Boeing's Starliner crew capsule into Earth orbit on its first unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. The Orbital Flight Test mission, under contract to NASA, is a prerequisite for astronaut flights on the Starliner spacecraft next year.

After another round of delays, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said this month that the commercial crew program is the agency's highest priority. Until new crew capsules from Boeing and SpaceX begin flying, NASA must rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station.

In an interview last week, Dunn said launching the Starliner capsule Dec. 17 and then Solar Orbiter on Feb. 5 would be a "pretty quick turnaround" for the Atlas 5 team.

But it's doable, he said.

"ULA continues sharpening their pencils and the dates are kind of fluid right now, but they believe that they have about a week-and-half, or just under two weeks, of opportunities for Starliner and the OFT mission beginning on the 17th (of December)," Dunn said. "So they were talking, kind of in rough terms ,probably 11 opportunities, maybe the 17th through the 27th before things would then begin to put some pressure on the Solar Orbiter mission."

Stacking of the Atlas 5 rocket for Solar Orbiter is currently scheduled for Jan. 3, Dunn said.

Solar Orbiter has 19 daily launch opportunities through Feb. 23. If the mission is not launched in February, Solar Orbiter's next opportunity to leave Earth is in October 2020, when the Earth and Venus are again in the correct position in the solar system to enable the spacecraft's series of planetary flybys.

If the Starliner test flight is delayed more than a couple of weeks, NASA leaders will have to decide whether to prioritize the commercial crew demonstration mission or Solar Orbiter in ULA's launch manifest. Dunn said teams at Kennedy is providing updates on the Starliner and Solar Orbiter launch opportunities to NASA Headquarters, just in case senior agency managers prioritize one launch over the other.

In addition to the high priority assigned to NASA's commercial crew program, Solar Orbiter's limited planetary launch opportunities, the spacecraft's previous delays, and the international nature of the mission could also factor in to the agency's decision.

PIN

Цитироватьtnt22 написал:
Solar Orbiter has 19 daily launch opportunities through Feb. 23.
Здесь они заблуждаются, реально "окно" куда короче

tnt22

ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter

 European Space Agency, ESA

28 окт. 2019 г.

Engineers have completed their testing of ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft in preparation for launch early next year.
Equipped with a suite of ten instruments, Solar Orbiter will capture the closest ever pictures of our star, the first images of its poles, and make detailed observations of solar activity. Its specially designed heatshield is capable of enduring temperatures of more than 500 degrees Celsius.

Over the past year, Solar Orbiter has been undergoing a series of rigorous tests at the IABG test centre near Munich, Germany. The spacecraft is due to be packed into an Antonov cargo plane on 31 October for shipping to Florida. Launch on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, is planned for February 2020.
[свернуть]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8h6btTJDMQhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/Y8h6btTJDMQ (3:55)


tnt22

Цитировать ESA's Solar Orbiter‏ @ESASolarOrbiter 3 ч. назад

Farewell Europe! #SolarOrbiter is now on its way to #Florida for the next stage of launch preparations. We'll be waiting for confirmation of touchdown at @NASAKennedy tonight...Over to you!
#WeAreAllSolarOrbiters

Impression from airfield by U. Ragnit




3 ч. назад

Some more impressions from Munich airfield during loading activities of #SolarOrbiter onto the Antonov cargo plane ready for its flight to @NASAKennedy. Now on its way! ( U.Ragnit)
#WeAreAllSolarOrbiters




tnt22

Цитировать NASA's Kennedy Space Center @NASAKennedy 5 ч. назад

Welcome to the Sunshine State, @ESASolarOrbiter

@esa's Sun-studying spacecraft completed its intercontinental journey ahead of it's interplanetary voyage set to launch Feb. 2020 on board a @ulalaunch Atlas V #SolarOrbiter

tnt22

Цитировать ESA's Solar Orbiter‏ @ESASolarOrbiter 4 мин. назад

A few impressions from the arrival and unloading of #SolarOrbiter last night at @NASAKennedy. Just over three months until launch!

 More about the mission: http://www.esa.int/solarorbiter  #StayTuned #WeAreAllSolarOrbiters ( J. Fiebrich)





tnt22


tnt22

К #31

Цитировать ULA‏ @ulalaunch 2 ч. назад

ULA's Harlingen, TX, team w/the #AtlasV fairing for #SolarOrbiter, a joint @NASA/@esa mission slated to launch Feb. 5, 2020, from Cape Canaveral. These #ULARocketStars have built aerospace hardware in the Rio Grande Valley for >30 years – including for Atlas I, II, III and V.


tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2019/11/05/solar-orbiter-arrives-at-kennedy-from-europe/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2019/11/05/solar-orbiter-arrives-at-kennedy-from-europe/
ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter Arrives at Kennedy fr om Europe

Anna Heiney
Posted Nov 5, 2019 at 12:10 pm


The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is placed on a truck for transportation from the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in nearby Titusville on Nov. 1, 2019. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrived at the Launch and Landing Facility, formerly known as the Shuttle Landing Facility, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard an Antonov cargo plane from Munich, Germany, on Nov. 1. Upon arrival at the Florida spaceport, the spacecraft was offloaded and transported to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in nearby Titusville, wh ere it will spend the next few months undergoing final preparations, tests and checkouts for liftoff.

Solar Orbiter is an ESA mission that will study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar winds. Using high spatial resolution telescopes, the spacecraft will observe the Sun's atmosphere up close and compare these observations with measurements taken around the spacecraft. Due to its unique orbit, Solar Orbiter will provide the first images of the Sun's poles. NASA's Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch.

Although developed independently, ESA's Solar Orbiter and NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which launched Aug. 12, 2018, are natural teammates. Solar Orbiter's comprehensive science instruments and unique orbit will help scientists place NASA's Parker Solar Probe's measurements in context. By working together in this way, the two spacecraft will collect complementary data sets allowing more science to be gathered from the two missions than either could manage on its own.

The spacecraft's mission to the Sun is planned for launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V-411 rocket from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Feb. 5, 2020, at 11:15 p.m. EST.

tnt22

ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter's journey around the Sun
Доступ по ссылке

European Space Agency, ESA

16 окт. 2019 г.

Animation showing the trajectory of Solar Orbiter around the Sun, highlighting the gravity assist manoeuvres that will enable the spacecraft to change inclination to observe the Sun from different perspectives.
During the initial cruise phase, which lasts until November 2021, Solar Orbiter will perform two gravity-assist manoeuvres around Venus and one around Earth to alter the spacecraft's trajectory, guiding it towards the innermost regions of the Solar System. At the same time, Solar Orbiter will acquire in situ data and characterise and calibrate its remote-sensing instruments. The first close solar pass will take place in 2022 at around a third of Earth's distance from the Sun.

The spacecraft's orbit has been chosen to be 'in resonance' with Venus, which means that it will return to the planet's vicinity every few orbits and can again use the planet's gravity to alter or tilt its orbit. Initially Solar Orbiter will be confined to the same plane as the planets, but each encounter of Venus will increase its orbital inclination. For example, after the 2025 Venus encounter it will make its first solar pass at 17º inclination, increasing to 33º during a proposed mission extension phase, bringing even more of the polar regions into direct view.
[свернуть]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLpEYMkf21chttps://www.youtube.com/embed/eLpEYMkf21c (2:31)

tnt22

http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter/Solar_Orbiter_launch_campaign_begins
ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter launch campaign begins
21/11/2019

ESA's mission to the Sun has been unpacked following its arrival in Florida earlier this month, ready to begin pre-launch testing and checks.

The mission is currently scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral launch complex late in the evening of 5 February U.S. time (early morning 6 February central European time) on an unprecedented mission to study our star up-close.

An Antonov cargo plane transported the spacecraft and essential ground support equipment from Munich, Germany, to Florida, landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Centre on 1 November. From there the satellite and equipment travelled by road to the AstroTech Space Operations facility. The first weeks were dedicated to setting up the equipment that will be needed to perform the upcoming checks and tests on the spacecraft. This will include repeated simplified tests of the spacecraft and science instruments so that the functioning of the various systems is confirmed as it was before the long flight, and checking of the propellant pressurisation system pressure before eventually fueling the spacecraft.





In the new year attention will shift to mating the spacecraft with the launch adapter and encapsulating the spacecraft inside the fairing. In the final stages of preparation, the spacecraft will be mounted atop the Atlas V 411 rocket and moved to the launch pad ready for liftoff.

Once in space, and over the course of several years, the spacecraft will repeatedly use the gravity of Venus and Earth to raise its orbit above the poles of the Sun, providing new perspectives on our star, including the first images of the Sun's polar regions. Its complementary suite of instruments means it will be able to study the plasma environment locally around the spacecraft and collect data from the Sun from afar, connecting the dots between the Sun's activity and the space environment in the inner Solar System, which is essential to understand the effects of space weather at Earth.


Solar Orbiter's journey around the Sun
Access the video

Solar Orbiter is an ESA mission with strong NASA participation. The prime contractor is Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK. The mission will provide complementary datasets to NASA's Parker Solar Probe that will allow more science to be distilled from the two missions than either could achieve on their own.

tnt22


tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2019/11/25/solar-orbiter-spacecraft-unboxed-atlas-v-launch-vehicle-arrives/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2019/11/25/solar-orbiter-spacecraft-unboxed-atlas-v-launch-vehicle-ar...
ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter Spacecraft Unboxed; Atlas V Launch Vehicle Arrives

Anna Heiney
Posted Nov 25, 2019 at 4:31 pm


The Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been removed from its shipping container inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster that will launch the Solar Orbiter on its upcoming mission to study the Sun has arrived at the Florida spaceport, while the spacecraft is beginning launch preparations of its own.


The United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is delivered by truck to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 21, 2019. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The company's cargo vessel, Rocketship – formerly known as Mariner – delivered the Atlas V first stage and Centaur upper stage to Port Canaveral on Nov. 20, 2019, after traveling from the booster's manufacturing facility at Decatur, Alabama. Upon arrival at the port, the launch hardware was trucked to separate facilities at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: the booster to ULA's Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) and the Centaur to a separate facility. Both stages will undergo preflight checkouts before the components are stacked for launch at the Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility closer to liftoff.

Meanwhile, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been removed from its shipping container for the start of its own prelaunch preparations at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida. The spacecraft was uncrated Nov. 15 and rotated to vertical on Nov. 18, paving the way for upcoming processing and checkouts, including tests of the spacecraft and its suite of science instruments, as well as its propellant pressurization system.

Solar Orbiter is a European Space Agency mission with strong NASA participation. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar winds. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun's poles. NASA's Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. Liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 aboard the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle.

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2019/12/18/solar-orbiter-gets-its-close-up-on-media-day/
ЦитироватьSolar Orbiter Gets its Close Up on Media Day

Anna Heiney
Posted Dec 18, 2019 at 3:57 pm


Media representatives viewed the Solar Orbiter spacecraft as it is being prepared for launch inside the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, on Dec. 16, 2019. Photo credit: Frank Michaux

Members of the media were given the opportunity to view and photograph the Solar Orbiter spacecraft up close inside the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, on Dec. 16, 2019. Representatives from NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP), the European Space Agency (ESA), United Launch Alliance (ULA), Airbus Defence and Space, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center provided an overview of the mission, spacecraft and launch vehicle.

Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, and the spacecraft has been developed by Airbus. The mission will study the Sun and how it can affect the space environment throughout the solar system, and it also will provide the first images of the Sun's poles. Solar Orbiter is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket at 11:27 p.m. EST on Feb. 5, 2020. LSP will manage the launch.
04:27 UTC 06.02.2020 / 07:27 ДМВ  06.02.2020

tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2020/01/03/nasas-launch-services-program-prepares-for-upcoming-2020-missions/
ЦитироватьNASA's Launch Services Program Prepares for Upcoming 2020 Missions

Danielle Sempsrott
Posted Jan 3, 2020 at 9:01 am

NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) is ringing in the New Year with three planned science missions in 2020, aimed at studying the Sun, Mars and our oceans. The first two missions will be launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, while the third will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Launching in February, Solar Orbiter is a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, which will study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and the solar wind. The spacecraft, developed by Airbus Defence and Space, will provide the first-ever images of the Sun's poles. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 411 rocket, and liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5. LSP will manage the launch.
...

tnt22