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

[Sharicoff]

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

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/missions/orsinfo.html

ORS-1 Launch Information[/size]
06.16.11
 
Mission Information
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility will support the launch of the Department of Defense Operationally Responsive Space Office's ORS-1 satellite aboard an U.S. Air Force Minotaur I rocket.

Launch Window: June 28- July 10
Time: 8:28 - 11:28 p.m. EDT

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational satellite. Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent war-fighter needs on operationally relevant timelines.

ORS-1 will be launched onboard a Minotaur I rocket, integrated by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). The Minotaur I is a four-stage vehicle, two stages being refurbished Minuteman II stages and the other two stages being OSC developed. The Minotaur is about 70 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

This will be the fourth Minotaur I rocket launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport since December 2006.

Viewing the Launch
The launch may be visible, depending on cloud cover and one's viewing location, in the eastern United States from southern New York to North Carolina. It may be seen as far west from the Atlantic Coast as West Virginia and all of Pennsylvania.

Locally, the NASA Visitor Center on Va. Route 175 and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague National Seashore will be open to view the launch. Regionally, the launch may also be seen from the beaches at Ocean City, Md., and Virginia Beach, Va.

Launch Status:
Prior to launch day, updates on the status of the launch will be provided on this website and on the
Wallops launch status line at 757-824-2050.
NASA Radio Station 760 AM (This has a range of 5 to 10 miles from the NASA Visitor Center)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NASA_wallops
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAWFF

On the day of the launch, status updates will be provided on:
Status Line: 757-824-2050
NASA Radio Station 760 AM (This has a range of 5 to 10 miles from the NASA Visitor Center)
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Radio Station 1610 AM
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NASA_wallops
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAWFF
Web cast: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast
Commercial Radio Station WCTG (96.5 FM)

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/06/22/10.xml&headline=Northrop%20Looks%20To%20ORS%20To%20Stabilize%20Space%20Base

Northrop Looks To ORS To Stabilize Space Base
[/size]
Jun 22, 2011
 
By Amy Butler

LE BOURGET — Northrop Grumman is looking to diversify and expand its space business, including a foray into the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) area, to stabilize that portion of its portfolio, says Gary Ervin, president of Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

Ervin says that the company has been downsizing its space workforce in recent years to adjust to reduced funding from the government and fewer programmatic options on the horizon. Ervin acknowledges that in the past Northrop's space business has been known for building large, innovative and complex systems. However, those are few and far between as the Air Force focuses on simply producing existing satellite designs for infrared missile warning and communications work.

To stabilize the ebbs and flows in available funding for large space programs, Ervin says he is turning to smaller projects. One such project was Northrop's win of work to design a "modular space vehicle," which could be a template for a standard bus design for small ORS missions. ORS fields small satellites for very specific missions that typically last only a few years in orbit. While that contrasts to the 15-year lifespan of many of the large Air Force satellites, the cost is dramatically lower.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

June 28/29     Minotaur 1  •  ORS 1
Launch window: 0028-0328 GMT on 29th (8:28-11:28 p.m. EDT on 28th)

[Sharicoff]

http://yfrog.com/kluppdj

[Salo]

http://www.marsspaceport.com/content/docs/ORS.pdf

[Salo]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-wallops-ors-launch-20110624,0,358905,full.story

Rocket launch set for Tuesday at Wallops will be visible for most of Mid-Atlantic[/size]

ORS-1 satellite will ride Minotaur rocket.


The satellite "bus" made by ATK in Maryland. (Handout photo / June 25, 2011)
By Frank D. Roylance, The Baltimore Sun

10:18 a.m. EDT, June 25, 2011
If skies are clear and all goes well Tuesday evening, observers throughout Maryland and much of the Mid-Atlantic region should be able to watch a big rocket launch from Virginia's Wallops Island.

The Air Force will attempt to launch a battlefield imaging satellite into orbit from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The ORS-1 satellite will ride atop a four-stage, solid-fuel Minotaur 1 rocket, the largest ever launched from the Delmarva peninsula.

Previous Minotaur launches have been seen from as far away as southern New England, eastern North Carolina and the eastern half of West Virginia. But visitors to the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia beaches will have a front-row seat.

"The weather looks generally good through the opening of the launch window Tuesday night," said Ron Walsh, NASA's project manager at Wallops. "We're very optimistic at this point ... although thunderstorms can always arise, especially in the late afternoon and evening hours."

The launch window opens at 8:28 p.m. and closes at 11:28 p.m. If the launch is scrubbed, subsequent attempts will follow nightly through July 10, except for a three-day window around the planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from Cape Canaveral, Fla., set for July 8.

The ORS-1 is the first operational version of the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space satellite series. The satellites are designed to provide battlefield commanders with space-based observational capabilities within time frames of days or weeks.

This satellite was conceived, designed, built and readied for launch in just 30 months.

"This is incredibly fast for a military space capability acquisition," said Peter Wegner, director of the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space Office. "I've seen many take in excess of 12 years."

The satellite's "bus" — the structure, power, communications, control and guidance systems — was developed and built by ATK Aerospace Systems Group's Beltsville facility and tested at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab near Laurel.

Brendan Regan, an ATK vice president, said the work took just 17 months and employed the equivalent of 80 full-time workers. "We'd like to sell many, many more to the Air Force and to our partners," he said.

The 70-foot-tall Minotaur 1 rocket is a hybrid developed by Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. The first two stages come from decommissioned Minuteman ballistic missiles. The top two were developed by OSC and integrated with the Minuteman.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport was built on NASA property at Wallops in 1998 by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. Maryland joined the venture in 2004 to help spur growth of the aerospace and launch-service industries.

Other partners include NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and Old Dominion University.

MARS was a slow starter, but business seems to be picking up. The first Minotaur launch from the spaceport, in December 2006, was the facility's first successful commercial launch. It carried two satellites: an 814-pound TacSat-2 satellite, a prototype for the ORS-1, intended to test the Air Force's ability to design, build and launch a satellite in 15 months; and a NASA biological experiment called GeneSat1.

The rocket's flame and contrail were visible in daylight from Baltimore.

Two more Minotaur launches followed. An April 2007 launch of the Pentagon's experimental NFIRE satellite was obscured by clouds.

The third, in May 2009, carried a TacSat-3 satellite, a NASA biomedical experiment called PharmaSat, and three, 2-pound "pico-satellites" built by university and private customers. Its contrail was visible from Fells Point, in the southeastern sky.

Recent reconstruction of Pad O-A will allow the launch of bigger, liquid-fueled Taurus rockets designated to carry cargo to the International Space Station now that the shuttle program is ending.

"A hot-fire test is scheduled for the autumn, and they've added an interim, demonstration launch ... for mid-December," said spaceport spokeswoman Laurie Naismith.

The December launch will carry a supply craft close to the space station to show that it can make the flight safely. Taurus 2 cargo flights from Wallops would begin in 2013, with two each year through 2015. The craft are to take supplies up, pick up space station refuse and incinerate it as the craft falls through the atmosphere.

The Virginia spaceport is also under contract with NASA to launch the port's first spacecraft to the moon — the Lunar Atmospheric Dust Explorer, or LADE (pronounced "Laddie"), atop a Minotaur 4 or 5 rocket. That is scheduled for May 2013.

"We're all thrilled and excited," Naismith said. "We see a good, solid future for MARS."

Upgrades to Pad O-A, including construction of the largest (200,000 gallons) water tank of its kind in the world, brought at least 700 workers to the spaceport for a minimum of 60 days, she said. They included electricians, cement workers, steamfitters, welders and others.

Wallops Island is near Chincoteague, Va., 47 miles south of http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/beaches/, and 115 miles south-southeast of Baltimore.

Tuesday's launch would come after sunset, making it easier to see, provided skies are clear and the view unobstructed.

Spectators can go to the NASA Wallops visitor's center or to the Assateague Island beaches. They can follow the countdown via Twitter, Facebook, launch status telephone lines and local radio.[/size]

[Sharicoff]

Весьма вероятен перенос пуска по погодным условиям.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/110627preview/

Tactical military satellite due for launch on Minotaur rocket[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 27, 2011

Bookmark and Share

The U.S. Air Force plans to launch a $226 million mission aboard a Minotaur rocket Tuesday to reshape how deployed forces receive battlefield imagery from space, a breakthrough in the Pentagon's program to field tactical satellites on smaller budgets and faster schedules.


The Minotaur 1 rocket stands ready for launch from Wallops Island, Va. Credit: Thom Baur/Orbital Sciences Corp.
 
The Minotaur 1 rocket, partially composed of decommissioned Minuteman missile stages, is scheduled to ignite and soar into space at 8:28 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0028 GMT Wednesday) from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a commercial facility located on the grounds of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

The launch window extends for three hours, according to NASA and Air Force officials. But there is a 70 percent chance weather could violate preset rules and force a delay.

After accelerating into orbit on the power of four solid-fueled rocket motors, the Minotaur launch vehicle should release the ORS 1 spacecraft 248 miles above Earth less than 12 minutes after liftoff.

Officials postponed the launch from earlier this year to ensure the Minotaur does not suffer the same fate of a Taurus rocket that failed to jettison its nose cone a few minutes after liftoff in March. A NASA climate research satellite was lost in the March mishap.

Although the rockets are different, they share a similar separation system in the payload fairing, a clamshell-like structure that protects the satellite during the early phases of launch. Once the rocket is above the dense lower atmosphere, the shroud is released to jettison weight.

Orbital Sciences Corp., the contractor for the Taurus and Minotaur rockets, completed its investigation into the March launch failure, according to Lou Amorosi, Orbital's vice president for the Minotaur program.

"They found a design susceptibility in the fairing separation system," Amorosi said. "That is the most probable cause of the failure, and that susceptibility was demonstrated through ground testing. We did do similar testing on Minotaur because we do share some components with Taurus, and what we found is the Minotaur is much less susceptible to this issue."

But "to be absolutely safe" in the wake of the Taurus mishap, Amorosi said Orbital recommended making minor modifications to the Minotaur rocket to ensure the ORS 1 mission is not struck by the same anomaly. The Air Force agreed with the changes, which included a software and a mechanical modification, according to Amorosi.

The ORS 1 satellite is the first operational platform to be fielded by a military division chartered to reduce the costs and timescales of deploying payloads to supply forces with tactical intelligence and reconnaissance imagery.

The Pentagon calls the initiative Operationally Responsive Space. The unit is headquarted at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

ORS 1 will deliver tactical surveillance and reconnaissance imagery directly to U.S. troops on the battlefield. U.S. Central Command requested the space-based imaging capability for its operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, including Afghanistan.

"The satellite is going to provide imagery of the CENTCOM area of operations," said Peter Wegner, director of the ORS office. "You may ask what's so special about that? Point No. 2 is the way we're providing this capability is very unique."

From the perspective of CENTCOM commanders and forces in war zones, the ORS 1 satellite will seem like just another airborne drone.

"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. "It's the very same computer and software systems that they use to task airborne imagery systems."


Artist's concept of the ORS 1 satellite. Credit: U.S. Air Force
 
ORS 1 carries an imaging sensor derived from the SYERS 2 camera flying on the Air Force's U-2 spy plane. Like the U-2 sensor, the ORS 1 instrument was built by Goodrich Corp. and installed on the satellite at the company's facility in Danbury, Conn.

"I think the one big difference between this satellite and other satellites you're familiar with is that it's a tactical satellite," said Thom Davis, the ORS 1 mission manager. "And it supports CENTCOM very similarly to the airborne assets. They will use it to augment the support they normally get from the U-2s, the UAVs and other airborne platforms."

Goodrich also supplied a ground system to format the satellite imagery for incorporation into existing processing software and dissemination networks.

Military officials speaking June 24 did not disclose the imaging resolution of the SYERS sensor aboard the ORS 1 satellite, but the instrument's telescope could spot objects as small as 4 feet across, according to previous statements by engineers familiar with the project.

"The system does allow you to take images of objects around the world," Wegner said. "It will give those deployed service members awareness of what's going on around them, what kind of vehicles and what other things may be happening around them."

Developed and declared ready for launch in 30 months, the ORS 1 mission is breaking the paradigm of military space programs, which are prone to high costs, long development cycles and strict requirements, officials said.

The Pentagon established the ORS program to develop tactical satellites with a single mission. After launching two demonstration satellites, TacSat 2 and TacSat 3, the ORS office received orders to build an operational spacecraft in 2008.

CENTCOM commanders delivered a notice of an "urgent need" in late 2008 for an imaging satellite designed to serve troops on the battlefield.

"That started the ORS 1 mission just a little over two-and-a-half years ago, and in a very short time, this team has done something pretty incredible," Wegner said.

The satellite bus was manufactured by ATK in Maryland in 17 months, according to Brendan Regan, the company's vice president of space mission systems.

Then the spacecraft was shipped to Goodrich's plant in Connecticut to receive the SYERS telescope and camera.

Col. Carol Welsch, the Air Force's ORS 1 mission director, said ground controllers plan a 30-day checkout phase before handing control of the craft over to the 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. [/size]

[Salo]

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

Minotaur rocket poised for blastoff[/size]

A Minotaur 1 rocket stands ready to launch a tactical reconnaissance satellite for the U.S. military from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Va.

Photo credit: Thom Baur/Orbital Sciences Corp.[/size]

[Salo]

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

Minotaur launch timeline[/size]
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 27, 2011

T-00:00    Liftoff
The first stage's decommissioned Minuteman 2 M55A1 solid rocket motor ignites to begin the Minotaur 1 rocket's mission. Pitch and roll commands two seconds later will put the rocket on the proper trajectory.

T+00:38    Max Q
Aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle reaches its peak as the Minotaur 1 accelerates through the lower atmosphere.

T+01:01    Stage 1 Sep./Stage 2 Ignition
At an altitude of more than 20 miles, the rocket's first stage exhausts its supply of solid fuel and is jettisoned. The second stage's SR19 motor ignites to continue the flight toward space.

T+01:18    Stage 2 Skirt Jettison
The second stage's aft skirt is jettisoned at an altitude of more than 30 miles.

T+02:13    Stage 2 Separation
After a 72-second burn, the Minotaur rocket's second stage separates at an altitude of more than 75 miles as the vehicle is traveling more than 6,000 mph.

T+02:15    Stage 3 Ignition
Components from the Pegasus rocket program take over as the Alliant Techsystems, Inc. Orion 50XL motor begins its 73-second firing.

T+02:25    Fairing Jettison
The 61-inch titanium payload fairing that protected the satellites during the ride through the lower atmosphere is jettisoned as the rocket ascends into space at an altitude of nearly 85 miles.

T+03:28    Stage 3 Burnout
The Orion 50XL motor completes its burn and the Minotaur 1 enters a coast period lasting more than five minutes, during which the vehicle's altitude will soar to almost 250 miles, the missionтАЩs orbital injection altitude.

T+08:31    Stage 3 Separation
The Minotaur's third stage is released to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

T+08:42    Stage 4 Ignition
The Orion 38 solid rocket motor is ignited to complete the job of placing the payload into orbit.

T+09:48    Stage 4 Burnout
The fourth stage uses up its propellant and burns out as it enters the targeted orbit at an altitude of about 248 miles and an orbital inclination of 40 degrees.

T+11:48    ORS 1 Separation
The Air Force's ORS 1 satellite is deployed from the Minotaur 1 rocket's fourth stage.

Data source: Orbital Sciences Corp.[/size]

[Salo]

Весьма вероятен перенос пуска по погодным условиям.

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

12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT)
Launch of the Minotaur 1 rocket from the Virginia coast remains set for 8:28 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0028 GMT Wednesday), but there is a 70 percent chance scattered thunderstorms could violate weather rules.

There is a three-hour launch window for the rocket to blast off Tuesday evening. Otherwise, the flight would be delayed until at least Wednesday. The weather outlook improves later in the week.

Officials gathered Saturday at the Wallops Flight Facility for the launch readiness review. The meeting concluded with a "go" to continue with launch preparations before Tuesday's launch attempt.

The countdown is scheduled to begin at 1:28 p.m. EDT (1728 GMT). Retraction of the launch pad's mobile service shelter should begin a few hours later, exposing the seven-story rocket for the remainder of the countdown.

If launch occurs at the opening of the window, the Minotaur rocket will soar into space at sunset, potentially making for a colorful ascent visible along the U.S. East Coast from North Carolina to New York, including Washington, D.C. [/size]

[Sharicoff]

Пошла трансляция. http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast/ (нужно нажать на кнопку "View Launch")
Либо напрямую: http://mfile.akamai.com/18569/live/reflector:59445.asx?bkup=32644

[Salo]

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

3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT)
With about five-and-a-half hours remaining until launch, the countdown is underway at the Wallops Flight Facility for this evening scheduled liftoff of a Minotaur 1 rocket.

The latest weather update continues to show a 70 percent chance of scattered storms violating the launch's strict weather requirements. But officials are hopeful there will be an opportunity to launch the Minotaur during tonight's three-hour window, which extends from 8:28 p.m. to 11:28 p.m. EDT.

The launch team is working no major issues at this point in the countdown. [/size]

[Salo]

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

4:56 p.m. EDT (2056 GMT)
Workers have cleared pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to wait out approaching thunderstorms. The countdown continues to hold at T-minus 3 hours, 52 minutes.

4:36 p.m. EDT (2036 GMT)
The countdown is now holding.

4:35 p.m. EDT (2035 GMT)
The launch team is now powering down the Minotaur vehicle to safe the rocket in light of approaching thunderstorms.

4:33 p.m. EDT (2033 GMT)
With the decision to hold off on retracting the protective service gantry at the Minotaur launch pad, crews are now discussing how to proceed with this evening's countdown. Officials could insert a hold in the countdown to wait for weather to clear.

4:22 p.m. EDT (2022 GMT)
T-minus 4 hours, 6 minutes and counting. After beginning preparations to retract the mobile service shelter from around the Minotaur rocket, the launch team is now closing doors on the gantry to shield the rocket from potential lightning in the area.

There is still a 70 percent chance of unacceptable weather during tonight's launch window.

The next phase of the countdown was expected to be preflight testing of the Minotaur rocket.

3:28 p.m. EDT (1928 GMT)
T-minus 5 hours and counting. [/size]

[Salo]

5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT)
Managers are currently discussing the best way to proceed with tonight's launch attempt. Thunderstorms are approaching the Wallops launch site on the east coast of Virginia, and the launch director has ordered workers to evacuate the launch pad due to the threat of lightning in the area.

Tonight's launch window extends until 11:28 p.m. EDT.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/

Minotaur rocket launch called off due to stormy weather[/size]

The U.S. Air Force planned to launch a $226 million mission aboard a Minotaur rocket Tuesday, but the flight was scrubbed by stormy weather near the Virginia launch site. The rocket is carrying a tactical satellite to reshape how deployed forces receive battlefield imagery from space. The launch is rescheduled for Wednesday evening at 8:28 p.m. EDT. [/size]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

June 29/30     Minotaur 1  •  ORS 1
Launch window: 0028-0328 GMT on 30th (8:28-11:28 p.m. EDT on 29th)
Launch site: Pad 0B, Wallops Island, Va.[/size]

[Salo]

Сегодня ночью в тот же час.

[Брабонт]

Как-то не соображу, что обозначают кубики 6 и 5 на патче?

[Liss]

!CARF 06/145 ZDC AIRSPACE DCC ON NASA ORS1 STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3740N/7252W 3721N/7137W 3643N/7137W 3631N/7222W 3637N/7239W 3713N/7240W WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3753N/7520W 3752N/7516W 3751N/7517W. SFC-UNL WEF 1106300000-1106300330

!CARF 06/146 (KZNY A0349/11) ZNY AIRSPACE DCC ON NASA ORS1 STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3409N/6557W 3541N/6510W 3517N/6301W 3309N/6407W WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3740N/7252W 3721N/7137W 3643N/7137W 3631N/7222W 3637N/7239W 3713N/7240W. SFC-UNL WEF 1106300000-1106300330

Есть также на ночь 30/1 и 1-2 июля.