LDCM(Landsat 8)-Atlas V 401- 11.02.13 18:04 UTC-Vandenberg

[Salo]

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ldcm.htm

Landsat 8 (LDCM)



Landsat 8 (LDCM) [GD]

Спойлер

On December 23, 2005, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum adjusting the LDCM (Landsat Data Continuity Mission) strategy. NASA was instructed to acquire a single Landsat data continuity mission in the form of a free-flyer spacecraft, which will receive the name Landsat 8. The instrument will collect land surface data similar to that of its Landsat predecessors. The data will be delivered to the U.S. Geological survey who will be responsible for mission operations as well as data collection, archiving, processing and distribution.

The most recent, Landsat 7, was launched in April 1999 and continues to collect data. Because its design lifetime is five years, efforts to implement LDCM have been ongoing to minimize risks to data continuity. Early plans called for NASA to purchase data meeting LDCM specifications from a privately owned and commercially operated satellite system. However, after an evaluation of proposals received from private industry, NASA cancelled the Request-for-Proposals (RFP) in Sept. 2003.

In light of the RFP cancellation, an interagency working group was formed (by the Executive Office of the President) to discuss new plans for Landsat data continuity. These discussions eventually lead to the Aug. 13, 2004 OSTP memorandum which directed federal agencies to place Landsat-type sensors on National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) platforms.

Following an evaluation of the technical complexity of integrating Landsat-type sensors on the NPOESS platforms, the Dec. 2005 memorandum redirected the Departments of Commerce, Defense, the Interior, and NASA to proceed with the NPOESS program without incorporating a Landsat-type instrument.

The LDCM mandated by the most recent OSTP memorandum will collect and archive data consistent with data from the previous Landsat satellites. Expeditious progress towards he acquisition, launch, and operation of the LDCM is anticipated to minimize any possibility of a gap in Landsat data. Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 are still operational, but Landsat 5 is 22 years old and no redundancy remains for most of its mission critical subsystems. Landsat 7, which was launched in 1999, has lost the use of its instrument Scan Line Corrector and has lost gyro redundancy.

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) is being built by the Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. The Ball contract was awarded in July 2007. OLI improves on past Landsat sensors using a technical approach demonstrated by a sensor flown on NASA's experimental EO-1 satellite. OLI is a push-broom sensor with a four-mirror telescope and 12-bit quantization. OLI will collect data for visible, near infrared, and short wave infrared spectral bands as well as a panchromatic band. It has a five-year design life. The graphic below compares the OLI spectral bands to Landsat 7's ETM+ bands.

The Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS) was added to the LDCM payload to continue thermal imaging and to support emerging applications such as evapotranspiration rate measurements for water management. TIRS is being built by NASA GSFC and it has a three-year design life. The 100 m TIRS data will be registered to the OLI data to create radiometrically, geometrically, and terrain-corrected 12-bit LDCM data products.

In October 2007, a Atlas-5(401) was contracted for the launch.

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, now Orbital Sciences Corp., has been selected in April 2008 by NASA to build the spacecraft for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). Under the terms of the $116 million delivery order, Orbital will be responsible for the design and fabrication of the LDCM spacecraft bus, integration of the government furnished instruments, satellite-level testing, on-orbit satellite check-out and continuing on-orbit engineering support. Orbital will also provide a spacecraft/observatory simulator.

Orbital will provide a simple, robust and reliable Landsat spacecraft that allows for rapid integration and testing. The company will use mature, qualified, flight-proven components to reduce development time, shorten integration time and improve performance. Orbital will build the LDCM spacecraft in its state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona.

[свернуть]

Nation: USA
Type / Application: Earth Observing
Operator: NASA
Contractors: Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) (formerly General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems) (bus); Ball Aerospace (payload)
Equipment: OLI, TIRS
Configuration: SA-200HP / LEOStar-3
Propulsion:
Power: Deployable solar array, batteries
Lifetime: 5 years (design), 7 years (planned)
Mass: 2623 kg (1512 kg dry)
Orbit: 705 km

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=10070.msg964373#msg964373

Kim Keller пишет:

First stage was erected on SLC-3 Tuesday morning.

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/rss_feed_collex_archive_1.html

Atlas V on Launch Pad for Landsat Mission
Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:02:12 PM GMT+0300

The Atlas V rocket for NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is now on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as preparations begin for a launch targeted for February 11, 2013. The launch vehicle is enclosed inside the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 3.

Payload Fairing Arrives for LCDM Mission
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:17:28 PM GMT+0200

The Atlas V payload fairing for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch. The launch team will carry out a "wet" dress rehearsal on Dec. 4 which is a countdown test with the Atlas V fully fueled on Space Launch Complex 3. The LDCM spacecraft currently is scheduled to arrive at Vandenberg on Dec. 19.

Countdown Test Today for LDCM
Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:35:29 PM GMT+0200

A launch countdown test is being conducted today for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The vehicle will launch NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission in February. Known as the "wet dress rehearsal," the rocket is to be fully fueled with liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and RP-1 propellants for the test.

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_12_03_2012_p22-521309.xml

Next Landsat Mission Prepares For Launch
By Frank Morring, Jr.
Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology

December 03, 2012

Спойлер

Recently my wife and I drove into Roanoke, Va., fr om the south on an old federal highway designated U.S. 221. We had followed it for more than 100 mi. to avoid "high-speed" interstate highways congested with holiday traffic, and to stretch a vacation fr om city life a little longer. For most of the way we enjoyed a bucolic byway winding through photogenic farmland, wh ere stretches of the original roadway clearly were engineered for oxcarts and horses. But as we approached Roanoke—an old railroad city in the southwest corner of the state—the late-fall foliage gave way to the orange warning signs and raw Earth that signify road construction.

Crews are widening Route 221 to accommodate the growing population as Roanoke expands. It's a safe bet that state highway engineers based their decision to spend the money in part on a 40-year-old set of relatively low-resolution images of the area collected by a series of U.S. government Earth-observation satellites that started with launch on July 23, 1972, of the Earth Resources Technology Satellite 1—later renamed Landsat 1.

Every 16 days for most of the past four decades, a Landsat bird has covered the entire globe, generating an unparalleled dataset for tracking changes on the Earth's surface. There are more-capable satellites in terms of resolution, but none offers the steady long-term stream of comparable data that Landsat generates. Given the expense and technical difficulty of flying missions in space, that stream has been a little unsteady in recent years. But a new mission set for a Feb. 11 launch on an Atlas V has the potential to expand the dataset by another decade.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft is in thermal vacuum testing at prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Gilbert, Ariz., factory, and on track for a timely launch. The 3,085-kg (6,800-lb.) spacecraft—built around Orbital's LEOStar-3 bus—has a design life of five years, but will carry enough fuel to keep it functioning for 10. Ball Aerospace built its Operational Land Imager to collect data in the visible, near-infrared, short-wavelength infrared and panchromatic bands.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center built the spacecraft's Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) using the advanced Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) technology it developed. The TIRS is designed to collect data in two more spectral bands previously covered by a single band on earlier Landsats.

From its polar-orbit perch at an altitude of 705 km (440 mi.), the LDCM will produce "scenes" measuring 185 X 185 km. The medium-resolution format actually is better for mapping changes than the sub-meter resolution available commercially today that can literally make it impossible to see the forest for the trees. Earth's dwindling supply of trees is one resource that Landsat has tracked over the years, according to LDCM chief scientist Jim Irons at Goddard.

"One ecosystem that's particularly susceptible to deforestation is the tropical rain forest, wh ere great swaths of the forest are being converted to agriculture to feed a growing population," he says.

Earth's burgeoning population also contributes to urban sprawl eating its way into farmland. This Landsat 7 image of Houston (photo) collected on Aug. 30, 2000, shows the utility of the dataset for tracking the growth of cities and meeting their infrastructure needs.

When the image of Houston was collected, Landsat 7 was working as advertised, but it has been limping along since its Scan Line Corrector failed on May 31, 2003. The device, which is not backed up by an on-board spare, compensates for the forward movement of the spacecraft in orbit so its adjacent surface scenes line up properly. Since the failure, the satellite data leave about 22% of the ground below its track blank. Until a year ago, Landsat 5 was helping fill in the dataset, but it finally stopped working after 27 years.

The Landsat system is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with NASA in charge of developing and launching the spacecraft. That is what the space agency does best, but the split in responsibility has made it difficult to keep the funding stream flowing against competing priorities.

Now that the two branches of government are getting serious about deficit reduction, that situation is likely to worsen. The budget belt-tightening comes at a time when long-range data are growing in importance as scientists and their political bosses try to gauge just how much of climate change is the result of man-made inputs that can be changed, measurements Irons says Landsat can help make.

[свернуть]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/wdr.html

California Atlas 5 prepares for its first NASA launch
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: December 4, 2012
 NASA's first Atlas 5 rocket on the West Coast underwent a practice launch day and fueling exercise Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.



The Atlas rocket first stage is erected for the LDCM mission. Credit: NASA/Roy Allison
 

Спойлер

The United Launch Alliance booster is scheduled for blastoff in February carrying a remote sensing spacecraft known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM.

The satellite will continue the 40-year legacy of monitoring the Earth's environment from space through the Landsat series of craft. This latest bird, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is equipped to obtain medium-resolution multispectral digital images of the global land surface, coastal shallows and coral reefs through the Operational Land Imager and the Thermal Infrared Sensor instruments.

LDCM is a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to further the Landsat data records that began in 1972 with Landsat 1 and five subsequent follow-on satellites over the decades.

To keep supplying that data archive, LCDM was conceived in 2005 and now stands just two months from launch into a 438-mile polar orbit.

The satellite completed its environmental testing on Nov. 23, undergoing rigorous testing inside a thermal vacuum chamber at the Orbital's facility in Gilbert, Arizona. The tests subjected LDCM to the high heat and low temperature swings it will experience in orbit.

Plans call for the satellite to arrive at Vandenberg on Dec. 19, beginning its own launch site campaign before joining up with the Atlas 5 rocket at the Space Launch Complex 3-East pad a couple of weeks before liftoff.

The rocket's on-pad assembly occurred in early October as the bronze first stage with its RD-180 main engine was erected, followed by the interstage adapter and then the white Centaur with the cryogenic RL10 engine.

On Tuesday, crews retracted the mobile service gantry away from the rocket around 8 a.m. local time and began loading the the supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen around 10:30 a.m. PST.

Clocks counted all the way to T-minus 0 seconds before cutting off as planned, ending the rehearsal at the pretend 1:40 p.m. local launch time.

Called the Wet Dress Rehearsal, the WDR provides the launch team and mission managers with a realistic run-through of the countdown timeline and decision-making calls. It also gives engineers a chance to uncover any technical problems that need resolved before the actual launch attempt.

The launch is dubbed AV-035 in the Atlas lineup. It will follow the Air Force's X-37B deployment flight planned for next week and the late January mission carrying NASA's Tracking and Data Relay K satellite, both of which will originate from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

[свернуть]

[instml]

Аппарат LDCM доставлен на космодром         

Космический аппарат LDCM (Landsat Data Continuity Mission) доставлен на Базу ВВС США "Ванденберг", шт. Калифорния, для предстартовой подготовки. Спутник был изготовлен специалистами компании Orbital Sciences Corp. Запуск намечен на 11 февраля нынешнего года. Для выведения на околоземную орбиту будет использована ракета-носитель Atlas-5.
 
 К.И.

http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/4236/

[instml]

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/rss_feed_collex_archive_1.html

Launch Preps Ongoing on Both Coasts
Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:31:13 PM GMT+0200
...
Launch preparations also are proceeding smoothly in California where technicians are readying the Landsat Data Continuity Mission for liftoff Feb. 11 from Vandenberg AFB. The spacecraft Comprehensive Performance Test of the instruments and systems is complete, the solar array first motion test was successfully performed and the X-band communications antenna has been installed. Today the spacecraft battery is being charged. Fueling of the spacecraft is scheduled to occur next week. Liftoff will occur aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at 1:04 p.m. EST/10:04 a.m. PST.


Landsat Arrives at Vandenberg Launch Site
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:17:35 PM GMT+0200

The spacecraft that will perform NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, arrived at its launch site today at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for prelaunch processing. A semi-trailer truck carried the spacecraft from the Orbital Sciences Corp. assembly facility in Gilbert, Az. on Monday. This NASA and U.S. Geological Survey mission will continue a 40-year record of measuring change on the planet from space. The satellite will ride into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Liftoff is targeted for Feb. 11, 2013.


LDCM-Atlas V Completes Readiness Review
Tue, 11 Dec 2012 06:36:25 PM GMT+0200

NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) successfully completed its Launch Vehicle Readiness Review for the Atlas V rocket that will lift the satellite into orbit. This clears the way for spacecraft arrival later next week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. LDCM will then begin its final checkout and preparations for launch Feb. 11 from Space Launch Complex 3. The liftoff time for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is 1:04 p.m. EST at the opening of a 44-minute launch window.


Countdown Test Today for LDCM
Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:35:29 PM GMT+0200

A launch countdown test is being conducted today for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The vehicle will launch NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission in February. Known as the "wet dress rehearsal," the rocket is to be fully fueled with liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and RP-1 propellants for the test.

[instml]

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=265



KSC-2013-1326 (01/25/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Loaded on a transporter, the payload faring containing the Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM spacecraft departs the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and heads toward the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-3E. There it will be hoisted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V for launch. LDCM is the eighth satellite in the Landsat Program series of Earth-observing missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. LDCM will continue the program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the resources needed for human sustainment such as food, water and forests. Photo credit: NASA/VAFB

Details                            



KSC-2013-1170 (01/13/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., technicians perform close-out inspections on NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis.

Details                            



KSC-2013-1169 (01/13/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., technicians perform close-out inspections on NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis.

Details



KSC-2013-1168 (01/13/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., technicians perform close-out inspections on NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis.

Details



KSC-2013-1165 (01/08/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the payload fairing arrives for the NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis.

Details



KSC-2013-1164 (01/08/2013) ---                                         VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite is undergoing close-outs prior to encapsulation in the payload fairing. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis.

Details

[kroton]

Штыри на солнечной панели на фото выше, Что это?

Наземное оборудование или летящее на орбиту?

[DMLL]

T-24 часа. целевая орбита: круговая 705 км, i=98.2 азимут пуска 186.4 время выведения 4700с.

[Salo]

http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/missionbooklets/AV/av_ldcm_mob.pdf

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/groundtrack.html

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/launchtimeline.html

Atlas/Landsat launch timeline
BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 15, 2013

T-0:00:02.7    Engine Start
The Russian-designed RD-180 main engine is ignited and undergoes checkout prior to launch.

T+0:00:01.1    Liftoff
The Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-035, lifts off and begins a vertical rise away from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

T+0:01:27    MaxQ
The rocket passes through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure as it accelerates through the lower atmosphere.

T+0:04:02    Main Engine Cutoff
The RD-180 main engine completes its firing after consuming its kerosene and liquid oxygen fuel supply in the Atlas first stage.

T+0:04:08    Stage Separation
The Common Core Booster first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket separates from the Centaur upper stage. Over the next few seconds, the Centaur engine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems are readied for ignition.

T+0:04:18    Centaur Ignition 1
The Centaur RL10 engine ignites for the longer of the two upper stage firings. This burn will inject the Centaur stage and TDRS spacecraft into a parking orbit.

T+0:04:26    Nose Cone Jettison
The payload fairing that protected the TDRS K spacecraft during the climb through the atmosphere is no longer needed and is separated.

T+0:15:23    Centaur Cutoff 1
The Centaur engine shuts down after arriving in a planned parking orbit. The vehicle enters a lengthy coast period lasting nearly 55 minutes before arriving at the required location in space for the second burn.

T+1:10:34    Centaur Ignition 2
The Centaur re-ignites to propel the payload into the desired Sun-synchronous polar orbit from the parking achieved earlier in the launch sequence.

T+1:12:20    Centaur Cutoff 2
At the conclusion of its second firing, the Centaur will have delivered the Landsat spacecraft into the targeted orbit with an apogee of 421 statute miles, perigee of 410 statute miles and inclination of 98.2 degrees.

T+1:18:21    Spacecraft Separation
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission spacecraft in collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey is released into orbit from the Centaur upper stage to complete the AV-035 launch.

Data source: United Launch Alliance.

[Space Alien]

[Lanista]

Посмотримс...

[DMLL]

Готовность 4 часа.

Видеотранляция:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Lanista]

http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Webcast.shtml

[azeast]

На Байконуре уже темно, а в Vanderberg ещё темно...

[instml]

Atlas 5 rocket readied for Landsat launch
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/prelaunch/