Operationally Responsive Space-1 (ORS-1) - Minotaur I - MARS LP-0B - 30.06.11 03:09 UTC

[X]

A2636/11 - STATIONARY AIRSPACE RESERVATION WILL TAKE PLACE AREA:
2135N03632W - 2001N03426W - 1743N03627W - 1816N03737W - 1918N03826W.
LATERAL SEPARATION OF 60NM WILL BE APPLIED WITHIN MNPS AIRSPACE AND LATERAL SEPARATION OF 120NM WILL BE APPLIED OUTSIDE MNPS AIRSPACE. SFC - UNL, DAILY 2330-0400, 27 JUN 23:30 2011 UNTIL 11 JUL 04:00 2011. CREATED: 27 JUN 14:24 2011

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/status.html

5:28 p.m. EDT (2128 GMT)
T-minus 3 hours and counting. After completing a round of flight termination system, guidance and navigation, communication and steering checks on the Minotaur rocket, the launch team is proceeding with preparations to retract the mobile shelter at the pad.

4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT)
Officials have cleared the data issue relating to NASA's tracking satellites, but engineers continue to troubleshoot launch support equipment causing a data flow anomaly between the ORS 1 spacecraft and the blockhouse at Wallops.

Meanwhile, the Minotaur is powered up and the launch team is beginning a series of preflight tests.

4:17 p.m. EDT (2017 GMT)
The launch team is also working an issue with test data transmitted through NASA's fleet of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. The orbiting satellite network will monitor the Minotaur rocket's ascent into space.

3:35 p.m. EDT (1935 GMT)
The launch team is discussing an anomaly with launch support equipment reported by the spacecraft team. No details on the problem are available at this time.

Meanwhile, the Minotaur rocket team is preparing to power up the launch vehicle for the first phase of testing in this afternoon's countdown. The weather outlook as improved again, and there is now a 100 percent chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff this evening.

3:28 p.m. EDT (1928 GMT)
T-minus 5 hours and counting. The launch team is on console for this evening's countdown.

1:28 p.m. EDT (1728 GMT)
T-minus 7 hours and counting. The countdown has started for tonight's planned blastoff of a Minotaur 1 rocket at 8:28 p.m. EDT (0028 GMT) from Wallops Island, Va.

Weather continues to look favorable for tonight's three-hour launch window. Storms forced the launch team to scrub liftoff yesterday.[/size]

[Salo]

Трансляция ожидается тут: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast/

Уже идёт!

http://mfile.akamai.com/18569/live/reflector:59445.asx?bkup=32644

[ZOOR]

Posted by RCC on 2011-06-29 at 22:07:49 EDT
FTS issue being discussed and determining time needed to recycle batteries for another attempt tonight.

Posted by RCC on 2011-06-29 at 22:04:20 EDT
Please stand by for an update on the length of the hold

Posted by RCC on 2011-06-29 at 22:03:55 EDT
reason for hold: Unable to switch flight temination system from external power to internal power.

Posted by RCC on 2011-06-29 at 21:57:37 EDT
Hold

Posted by RCC on 2011-06-29 at 21:55:48 EDT
Range is go for launch

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/

Minotaur rocket soars into the night from Virginia[/size]

After overcoming several issues in the countdown, a Minotaur rocket was launched from the Virginia coastline at 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT) carrying a tactical imaging satellite for the U.S. military. [/size]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/status.html

11:35 p.m. EDT (0335 GMT Thurs.)
Once the ORS 1 satellite separated from the Minotaur rocket, it was supposed to deploy its solar panels to generate electricity, then begin a month-long checkout phase to confirm the spacecraft is in good health.

"We are planning on a 30-day launch and early orbit period, at the completion of which we look forward to handing the satellite control authority over to the 1st Space Operations Squadron and Schriever Air Force Base," said Air Force Col. Carol Welsch, the ORS 1 mission director, in remarks before the launch.

"We're going to check out the systems themselves and make sure the spacecraft is operating as we intended it to," Welsch said.

The spacecraft will serve U.S. troops deployed under the auspices of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military action in Afghanistan, Iraq and other theaters in the Middle East.

It will give military forces another source of tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. Based on the imaging sensor from the U-2 spy plane, the ORS 1 satellite's primary payload will deliver snapshots from an altitude of 250 miles directly to commanders on the battlefield.

The military has not released the specific capabilities of the imager, but it should be sharp enough to see vehicles, structures and enemy movements.

Although existing satellites provide better coverage, their images don't go directly to the battlefield. They are used by intelligence analysts in the United States to help guide strategic decisions on longer timescales.

Peter Wegner, director of the military's Operationally Responsive Space office, says the ORS 1 satellite will look more like an unmanned aerial drone than a spacecraft to military operators.

"In a sense, what we did is we built this satellite so that it looks very much like an airborne sensor to the operators at Central Command," Wegner said before launch. "It's the very same computer and software systems that they use to task airborne ISR assets and airborne imagery systems. They will use those exact same assets to task this spacecraft. The data will come down in a very similar format using some of the very same radios and links that we use on airborne systems today."

11:26 p.m. EDT (0326 GMT Thurs.)
Tonight's flight extends the Minotaur rocket's record to 12 successful satellite launches into Earth orbit. The Minotaur 1 configuration that launched tonight has now achieved 10 successes in 10 launches since 2000, while the larger Minotaur 4 booster has conducted two flawless satellite missions.

11:21 p.m. EDT (0321 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 12 minutes. Spacecraft separation! The 957-pound ORS 1 spacecraft has been released from the Minotaur's fourth stage to begin collecting battlefield imagery for U.S. forces deployed in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 11 minutes. Deployment of the ORS 1 satellite is scheduled to occur in about one minute.

11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 10 minutes, 30 seconds. Telemetry is now being received through NASA's tracking satellite network.

11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 10 minutes. The fourth stage has completed its burn and the vehicle should be in orbit.

11:17 p.m. EDT (0317 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 8 minutes, 50 seconds. Third stage separation and fourth stage ignition are confirmed. The fourth stage Orion 38 solid rocket motor will burn for about 66 seconds to finish the job of placing the ORS 1 satellite into orbit.

11:16 p.m. EDT (0316 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. The third stage will be released at about T+plus 8 minutes, 31 seconds, and the fourth stage will ignite at about T+8 minutes, 48 seconds.

11:15 p.m. EDT (0315 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 6 minutes, 45 seconds. The Minotaur is now 900 miles southeast of the launch site at an altitude of 230 miles. It is traveling at 12,000 mph.

11:15 p.m. EDT (0315 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 6 minutes. No problems have been reported thus far in this 10th flight of a Minotaur 1 rocket.

11:14 p.m. EDT (0314 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 5 minutes. Systems aboard the Minotaur continue to look good as the rocket coasts to orbital altitude.

11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The third stage has burned out and the Minotaur is beginning a coast phase lasting more than five minutes. The rocket will fly to an altitude of nearly 250 miles, where the third stage will separate and the fourth stage will ignite to reach orbital velocity.

11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 3 minutes. Normal vehicle performance reported by the launch team.

11:11 p.m. EDT (0311 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The nose cone protecting the payloads during the early portions of the launch has been jettisoned.

11:11 p.m. EDT (0311 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Second stage separation and third stage ignition confirmed.

The Minotaur is now being powered by components from the Pegasus rocket. The Orion 50XL third stage will fire for about 73 seconds.

11:11 p.m. EDT (0311 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 2 minutes. Minotaur is 55 miles in altitude, 70 miles east of the launch pad, traveling at 5,800 mph.

11:10 p.m. EDT (0310 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 61 seconds. The M55A1 first stage motor has completed its burn and separated from the SR19 second stage motor. Both stages are heritage motors from the Minuteman ballistic missile.

11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 38 seconds. Passing through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the rocket. Velocity is 1,750 mph.

11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT Thurs.)
T+plus 15 seconds. The rocket has pitched on course for the climb to space over the Atlantic Ocean.

11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT Thurs.)
LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Minotaur 1 rocket launching the ORS 1 satellite to deliver battlefield imagery to deployed military forces. [/size]

[Salo]

Видео старта:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBiMGLEd0RU&feature=player_embedded

[Salo]

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/live-orbital-minotaur-i-launch-ors-1/

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/110630-ors1-sat-orbit.html

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/index.html

[Salo]

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/ImagesMultimedia/Images/SpaceLaunch/

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/launch/index.html

[Sharicoff]

Определенная интрига заключается в том, станет сабж ЮЭсЭйем-231 или нет?

[Sharicoff]

Элементов на ORS-1 нет (это не удивительно), но параметры орбиты появились:

37728    2011-029A    92.67 мин.    40°    410 х 401 км
37729    2011-029B      92.63 мин.    40°    406 х 400 км

[Sharicoff]

О! Наконец то. Официальные имена от НОРАДа - ORS 1 (USA 231) и MINOTAUR R/B. Параметры орбит со спейстрека, кстати, исчезли.

[Sharicoff]

Ета... Граждане, а никому кроме меня не показалось, что орбита сабжа - один в один орбита первого X-37B?  :roll:

[Брабонт]

Не совсем, поскольку отличается "резонанс" (Старый сейчас что-нибудь скажет..., но в целом схема 40/400, похоже, является штатной.

[Sharicoff]

"Резонанс"?  :roll: Кого с чем?

[Брабонт]

Периодов вращения спутника и Земли. Те самые 46:3 и т.п.

[Sharicoff]

А, ну то есть кратность.

[Старый]

Ета... Граждане, а никому кроме меня не показалось, что орбита сабжа - один в один орбита первого X-37B?  :roll:

Опс! Вот это номер!
 Первая версия - умышленная дезинформация. Х-37 вывели на ту же орбиту чтоб все подумали что он оптический разведчик.