A-ONE: Cygnus Mass Simulator, Dove 1, PhoneSat х3 - Antares-110 - MARS LP-0A - 21.04.2013 21:00 UTC

[Salo]

Latest wind readings, both surface and upper level, all look "green" for today's #Antares launch

[Salo]

#Antares Ground winds at #NASA_Wallops have gusts ranging from 16 to 21 knots, with a peak of 24 knots over the last hour.

#Antares update: No vehicle issues in work. Upper level wind placard assessments are green. All Toxic, Debris, and DFO assessments are green

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1826 GMT (2:26 p.m. EDT)
Upper level winds are still green, and there are no concerns with violating rules in place governing the distribution of toxic vapors and rocket debris in the event of an explosive mishap soon after liftoff.

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1831 GMT (2:31 p.m. EDT)
Crews manning downrange tracking stations in Bermuda and North Carolina are configuring their radar and communications assets for launch.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041611#msg1041611

antonioe пишет Today at 06:37 PM:

 L-3:30 balloon data-derived DFO and Toxic E sub C meet both range and FAA criteria and debris drift is green.

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1840 GMT (2:40 p.m. EDT)
Orbital Sciences says prelaunch vehicle testing is complete with no issues. Chilldown of the pad fueling system continues as officials watch pesky ground winds near the 20-knot limit for liftoff.

[Salo]

#Antares T-2:20: LOX chilldown is nearly complete. Prelaunch vehicle testing was successfully completed - all vehicle systems are nominal.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/antares/demo/groundtrack/

[Salo]

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences

@Sasqua1ch No problem. Tune in at 4:30 EDT for prelaunch coverage at http://nasa.gov/ntv . Still targeting a launch at 5pm.

[Salo]

#Antares T-1:30 We are complete with the countdown checklist up to T-1:45 PM. There is a built in 15 minute hold in the loading procedure.

#Antares is go for fueling. CDT has resumed as planned at T-90 minutes with the loading and vehicle clocks aligned.

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1930 GMT (3:30 p.m. EDT)
Propellant is being pumped into the Antares rocket's first stage. About 21,000 gallons of RP-1, a high-refined rocket-grade kerosene, and about 41,000 pounds of liquid oxygen will be loaded into the first stage over the next half-hour.

The kerosene is stored at roughly room temperature and the liquid oxygen is chilled to minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit. The oxygen will slowly boil off during the countdown, and liquid oxygen continue flowing into the rocket until shortly before liftoff.

The first stage tanks are designed by Yuzhnoye and built by Yuzhmash in Ukraine based on heritage from the Zenit rocket. The liquid oxygen tank is positioned in the upper part of the 12.8-foot-diameter stage and the RP-1 tank is in the lower part of the stage.

The first stage's two AJ26 engines will consume the liquid propellant during a 3-minute, 50-second burn.

The Antares second stage, a Castor 30 motor built by ATK, is propelled by solid fuel already loaded into the rocket.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041634#msg1041634

antonioe пишет Today at 07:34 PM:

Latest (L-2:30 balloon) debris wind drift green ... RP-1 ready to flow ...

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1940 GMT (3:40 p.m. EDT)
Fueling operations continue for today's liftoff at 5 p.m. EDT. This is the first launch for both Orbital Sciences Corp. and NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to utilize liquid propellants.

"Wallops has been here 68 years and launched some 16000 rockets," said Bill Wrobel, director of Wallops Flight Facility. "This one is, no doubt, by far, the largest thing to ever come off the island."

Orbital Sciences has launched more than 1,000 space missions, including satellites, missiles and its Pegasus, Taurus and Minotaur satellite launch vehicles. All its rockets so far have been solid-fueled.

"It's going to be the biggest, brightest and loudest thing that's ever launched form Wallops," said Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager of Orbital's advanced systems group.

Wallops regularly launches suborbital sounding rockets for scientific and engineering research purposes, and the facility has occasionally launched small satellites with Orbital Sciences Minotaur rockets.

The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority owns the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which oversaw development of the launch pad used by Antares. The Commonwealth of Virginia paid for about $80 million of the $120 million cost of the launch pad, with most of the rest of the funding coming from the federal government.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.30

antonioe пишет Today at 07:35 PM:

RP-1 flowing to the rocket!

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041638#msg1041638

antonioe пишет Today at 07:36 PM:

Surface wind constraint waved by Orbital to 24 knots (including gusts) all azimuths

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041641#msg1041641

antonioe пишет Today at 07:40 PM:

 Island weather tower (50-ft level anemometer) about 20 MHP max gust 28 MPH over the past hour

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
1950 GMT (3:50 p.m. EDT)
Orbital has confirmed they are comfortable with today's ground winds. The ground winds have trended close to the limit for today's launch throughout the afternoon. Wallops just launched another balloon to get wind layer data to help plan the vehicle's flight trajectory. And range officials are tracking 13 boats near the launch site, but all are reported to be cooperative and are clearing the area.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041643#msg1041643

antonioe пишет Today at 07:54 PM:

TEL moving to its pre-retract position .. we're all watching the close-up camera of the umbilicals...

antonioe пишет Today at 07:57 PM:

Helo has seen a fishing boat in the foul area "near the hook" - patrol boat on its way to escort it out - checking its ETA now.

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
2000 GMT (4:00 p.m. EDT)
T-minus 60 minutes and counting. Everything continues to look good for an on-time launch today.

With the start of fueling, the available launch window has been shortened to 15 minutes. This is to keep the temperature of the propellant within acceptable limits, according to Mike Pinkston, Orbital's Antares program manager.

After chilldown begins at T-minus 30 minutes, the window will be limited to 10 minutes. After passing the T-minus 10 minute point, the launch window is again shortened to just 3 minutes.

[Salo]

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
2004 GMT (4:04 p.m. EDT)
Range safety officials at Wallops are tracking a boat within the restricted area near the launch site. Helicopters have been dispatched to clear the boat.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31704.msg1041655#msg1041655

antonioe пишет Today at 08:10 PM:

Boat has cleared

[Salo]

#Antares T-60 min: Core chill down with LOX is underway. Flowing approx 70 GPM to the vehicle. Now at high flow chill down at 140 GPM.