Cygnus Orb-2 (CRS2) - Antares-120 - MARS LP-0A (о.Уоллопс) - 11.07.2014

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/

AJ26 Engine Acceptance Test Successfully Conducted

August 2013

On August 8, 2013 Orbital and its Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA teammates successfully conducted a 54 second hot fire acceptance test of an AJ26 engine. The AJ26 used in this test will be one of two engines that will power the first stage of Orbital's Antares rocket in its second mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) agreement with NASA. The mission, dubbed Orb-2, is scheduled to occur in 2014. The test was conducted at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (NASA photo)

[Salo]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.764148203615283.1073741865.191575794205863&type=1

Cygnus Arrival
Обновлено в четверг

In gearing up for the May 1 Antares mission, the Cygnus PCM arrived today at Wallops on the Antonov. The snow made for a lovely background. (NASA Photos)

[Salo]

https://twitter.com/OrbitalSciences/status/428948772744216576/photo/1

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences
 
Speaking of the #Orb2 #CRS mission. PCM arriving at @NASA_Wallops today. Service module near completion at Dulles pic.twitter.com/SzMFGdzGuu

 


 
 
9:52 - 30 янв. 2014 г.

[Salo]

Пуск ожидается 1 мая.

[Bizonich]

Salo пишет:
Пуск ожидается 1 мая.

Именно поэтому срок Dragon CRS3 поехал вправо?

[Александр Ч.]

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 16 мин.
 
In May, for #Orb2, the 3rd #Cygnus spacecraft will be launched in an 8 month period. Demonstrates discipline/efficiency of commercial space
 

  Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 21 мин.
 
The CRS #Orb2 mission will be the 4th launch of the #Antares rocket in its first 13 months of operations. @NASA
 

  Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 25 мин.
 
#Orb2 CRS mission launch time on May 6 is targeted for 3:44 pm (EDT), with a 5 minute window to 3:49 pm @NASA @NASA_Wallops
 

 
  Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 28 мин.
 
Update on #Orb2 CRS mission schedule: We're targeting Tues. May 6 for the launch of the cargo resupply mission from @NASA_Wallops for @NASA

[Александр Ч.]

Прошла информация, что если у SpaceX задержек не будет, то Orb2 уйдет в право из-за стыковки Дракона.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/antares/orb2/140422delay/#.U1dH_aL-5eI

Next Orbital Sciences resupply mission slips to June
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: April 22, 2014

The second space station resupply run by Orbital Sciences Corp. has been reset for June after NASA officials juggled the outpost's visiting vehicle manifest to accommodate delays in launching a SpaceX cargo craft, the company announced Monday.
 
File photo of an Antares rocket launch. Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
 
 Launch of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft is set for no earlier than June 10 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
If liftoff occurs June 10, the launch time would be approximately 2:07 a.m. EDT (0607 GMT). The launch time is determined by the orbit of the space station.
Orbital Sciences was preparing for launch was soon as May 6 in case SpaceX was unable to launch its resupply mission by late April, but Sunday's arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule at the space station allows Orbital to stand down and reschedule its launch for June.
The decision to delay the launch to June was expected.
NASA officials wanted at least one of the two commercial resupply ships to reach the space station in the next few weeks to bolster the space station's stocks of food, provisions and research experiments.
The Orbital Sciences mission's move to June avoids a scheduling conflict with the ongoing Dragon mission, a Soyuz crew rotation in May, and high solar angles on the space station's orbit in early June.
"The Antares and Cygnus teams have made great progress in preparing for this mission," Orbital Sciences wrote in a mission update on the company's website.
About 65 percent of the cargo manifested for the Cygnus supply mission, known as Orb-2, is already loaded inside the spacecraft's Italian-built pressurized cargo module. NASA has identified 1,650 kilograms, or 3,637 pounds, of cargo to be carried to the space station on the Orb-2 mission.
Earlier in April, technicians attached the Cygnus craft's cargo cabin and service module.
"The team has also been completing final Cygnus closeouts and has transferred the integrated Cygnus spacecraft from the payload processing facility on the Wallops main base to the fueling facility on Wallops Island," the company wrote in the update. "Fueling will take place in the near future. The remaining cargo, some of which is time-sensitive, will be loaded just prior to the encapsulation of the spacecraft within the Antares rocket's fairing."
Officials said final testing is nearing completion on the Antares rocket for the Orb-2 mission, and teams will soon move on to preparing the next Antares launcher for the Orb-3 resupply mission scheduled for launch in October. The two rockets are located inside the Horizontal Integration Facility about one mile north of the Antares launch pad.
Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA for eight Cygnus resupply flights through 2016.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

[Salo]

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-2/

ISS Commercial Resupply Services Mission (Orb-2)
Launch Date:    No Earlier Than June 10, 2014
Launch Site:    MARS Pad 0A Wallops Island, VA

Antares Launch

Mission Status - April 21, 2014

Orbital's upcoming cargo logistics mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA is now scheduled for no earlier than June 10. With the successful berthing of the SpaceX Dragon capsule at the Station, a crew rotation and a "solar beta cutout" also to occur in May, the earliest date that Orbital can launch will be during the second week in June.

The Antares and Cygnus teams have made great progress in preparing for this mission. The Cygnus spacecraft is currently loaded with 1083 kg of NASA cargo, approximately 65% of the planned total cargo load. The team has also been completing final Cygnus closeouts and has transferred the integrated Cygnus spacecraft from the payload processing facility on the Wallops main base to the fueling facility on Wallops Island. Fueling will take place in the near future. The remaining cargo, some of which is time sensitive, will be loaded just prior to the encapsulation of the spacecraft within the Antares rocket's fairing.

The Antares team continues to prepare the rocket for the mission, conducting final testing and preparing for the integration of Cygnus with the vehicle's upper stage. In addition, the team will also be making progress on the rocket that will conduct the Orb-3 resupply mission later this year. While not as far along as the Orb-2 rocket, the Antares ground team is working on both rockets in parallel at the Wallops Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF).

The Cygnus and Antares team also completed the Flight Readiness Certification Review (FRCR) on April 15. The FRCR is a comprehensive review of the current status of the spacecraft and the rocket and the team's readiness to support the Orb-2 mission operations.

Mission Description

Cygnus will be boosted into orbit by a two-stage Antares rocket from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The launch sequence will last about ten minutes from liftoff through the separation of Cygnus from the Antares vehicle.

Once in orbit, Cygnus will deploy its solar arrays and undergo initial check-out. The spacecraft will then conduct a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit to bring it within 4 km of the ISS prior to receiving authorization to autonomously rendezvous with the station. When the vehicle approaches to within 12 meters, the astronauts will use the station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus and berth it to the Harmony node of the station.

Cygnus is planned to remain berthed at the ISS for approximately 40 days during which time the station crew will unload cargo from Cygnus and subsequently load it with materials for disposal. At the end of the mission Cygnus will depart the station and reenter the Earth's atmosphere.

 Mission Info

Launch Site:
MARS Pad 0A
Antares Launch Sequence:
Approximately 10 minutes
Cygnus ISS Rendezvous:
Approx. 2.5 days from launch
Cygnus Stay at ISS:
Approximately 40 days
 

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/20140414_HEOC_ISS.pdf
 

[Sonic]

 Читаю-читаю эти новости, и решил спросить... А чем slip отличается от scrub ? Сроками ?

[Старый]

Sonic пишет:
Читаю-читаю эти новости, и решил спросить... А чем slip отличается от scrub ? Сроками ?

Слип - перенос (сдвиг), скраб - отмена (на неопределённое время) Вобщем отличается переносом на определённое или неопределённое время.

[Ну-и-ну]

Sonic пишет:

А чем slip отличается от scrub

Я бы перевёл как "сползание сроков" (выявленное за недели-дни до пуска) и "отмена запуска" (непосредственно на старте).

[igorvs]

Большая новость. ATK объединяются с Orbital Sciences. Новую компанию назвали Orbital ATK

[igorvs]

Orbital and ATK form space flight super group
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/04/orbital-atk-form-space-flight-super-group/#.U2BpNwmAaAc.twitter

[Александр Ч.]

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 5 мин.
Orbital and @NASA are targeting June 10 at 2:07 a.m. for the #Antares launch of the #Orb2 cargo mission from @NASA_Wallops to the #ISS

Более подробно http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-2/

[Victor123]

Придется им у SpaceX покупать двигатели и баки.

[anik]

Все ли там нормально с датой запуска?

[DAP]

NSF пишет, что пока непонятно, как авария при прожиге двигателя для другой ракеты (не сообщили пока, для какой) повлияет на сроки пуска Orb-2.  Вроде как двигателя для этого старта все испытания успешно прошли еще в августе, но Орбитал пока не сообщил, будет ли задержка до окончательного выявления причин аварии при вчерашнем испытании.

[Александр Ч.]

A Russian-built rocket engine assigned to launch an Orbital Sciences Corp. commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station in early 2015 was damaged Thursday during a test mishap at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.


File photo of an AJ26 engine lifted into the E-1 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. Credit: NASA
 
"A test anomaly occurred earlier today at Stennis during an acceptance test of an AJ26 engine slated to fly in 2015," said Orbital Sciences spokesperson Barry Beneski. "The cause of the failure is unknown at this time."

The Antares launch vehicle is powered by two AJ26-62 first stage main engines at the start of Orbital's commercial cargo missions to the space station. The Dulles, Va.-based company has a $1.9 billion contract for eight resupply flights through 2016 using Antares boosters and Cygnus logistics spaceships.

Orbital has completed the first supply mission under the contract, and the second flight is scheduled for takeoff June 10 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

"We don't know yet if this will affect the upcoming Antares launch schedule," Beneski wrote in an email.

SpaceX holds a similar cargo contract with NASA to transport supplies to and from the space station using the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule.

Aerojet Rocketdyne provides the AJ26 engines for Orbital's Antares launch vehicle. A spokesperson for the propulsion firm said there no injuries from Thursday's engine mishap, and the company is leading an investigation to determine the cause of the failure.


Photo of an Antares launch on Jan. 9, 2014. Credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.
 
Aerojet purchased 43 NK-33 engines from Russia's Kuznetsov Design Bureau in the 1990s to integrate on U.S. rockets. The first American launch contractor to commit to using the engines was Orbital Sciences, which bought 20 engines for 10 flights, consisting of two test launches and the eight cargo deliveries to the space station.

Aerojet Rocketdyne converted the 20 NK-33 engines into the AJ26 configuration by adding U.S. electronics, qualifying the engines for U.S. propellants, putting in equipment to permit the engines to gimbal for steering, and adding electromechanical valve actuators, according to officials familiar with the engine's modernization.

The AJ26 engines consume liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants. Each engine generates more than 350,000 pounds of thrust at sea level.

Officials said the AJ26 engine that failed Thursday suffered the anomaly about 30 seconds into a planned 54-second test. The engine test terminated prematurely, resulting in extensive damage to the engine.

A team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin engineers put each AJ26 engine through acceptance testing on the E-1 test stand at the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi before delivering the engines to the Antares launch site on Virginia's Eastern Shore.


File photo of an NK-33 engine test. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne
 
Engines for the next two Antares launches, currently scheduled for June 10 and early October, have finished acceptance testing and are ready for flight. But officials said Thursday it was too soon to tell whether the launches would be delayed in the aftermath of the engine mishap at Stennis.

The first stage structures for the next three flights have also been delivered to the United States from Yuzhmash in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, according to Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager of Orbital's advanced programs group.

In an interview Wednesday, Culbertson said two more Ukrainian stages were on schedule to arrive in the United States later this year.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.