Solar Orbiter (SolO) – Atlas V 411 – Canaveral SLC-41 – 10.02.2020 – 07:05 ДМВ

[tnt22]

Feb 10 04:21

Safety officials have confirmed that there are no Collision Avoidance (COLA) periods during today's 120-minute launch window. COLAs are brief moments in time when the launch is not allowed to occur because the trajectory would pass too close to another object already in space. This analysis is based on a screening of known active and debris objects in orbit that could cause a conjunction with the ascending Atlas V and Solar Orbiter.

[tnt22]

 ULA‏ @ulalaunch 20 мин. назад

Answer: Spacecraft separation occurs high above the Indian Ocean, between Indonesia and Australia. Congrats to @thejoshtarrant for the correct response and thanks to everyone for playing Countdown Trivia! Go Atlas! Go Centaur! Go Solar Orbiter!

[tnt22]

Feb 10 04:33

Countdown holding

This is Atlas Launch Control at T-minus 2 hours (L-2 hours, 30 minutes) and holding. The countdown has entered the first of two planned, built-in holds that are scheduled in today's timeline. This first block of time gives the countdown some margin to resolve issues or catch up work that could be running late, and the hold provides an opportunity to ensure all is ready before fueling operations begin.

The final hold occurs at T-minus 4 minutes.

At the present time, all activities are on schedule and no problems are being addressed by the launch team.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 04:45

Go for fueling

A readiness poll of the launch team by Launch Conductor Scott Barney, with concurrence of ULA Launch Director Lou Mangieri, has approved cryogenic tanking operations to begin once the countdown resumes.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 04:48

Countdown resumes

This is Atlas Launch Control at T-minus 2 hours (L-2 hours, 15 minutes) and counting. The next phase of today's launch countdown has started on schedule as we continue to target 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 UTC) for liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Solar Orbiter for the European Space Agency and NASA.

Preparatory steps for fueling are being kicked off, including ground chilldown of the Atlas first liquid oxygen system and chilldown of the transfer lines to the Centaur upper stage liquid oxygen system.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 04:57

Centaur LO2 loading begins

With the thermal conditioning, or chilldown, now complete, liquid oxygen has started to flow into the Centaur upper stage for today's launch. About 4,150 gallons of liquid oxygen will be loaded into Centaur.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:18

Atlas LO2 loading begins

Filling of the Atlas V rocket's largest tank has begun. About 48,800 gallons of super-cold oxidizer for the main engine is flowing into the liquid oxygen tank on common core booster first stage.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:23

The journey

Solar Orbiter leaves Earth on a hyperbolic departure trajectory to the inner solar system tonight. The spacecraft will use gravity-assist maneuvers from Ven us and Earth throughout its mission.


(From ESA press kit)

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:25

The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is topping to flight level.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:33

Deployment sequence

This illustration explains the process to launch and deploy Solar Orbiter beginning with liftoff at 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 UTC) tonight.


(From ESA press kit)

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:43

Centaur LH2 loading begins

The launch team has received the "go" to begin filling the Centaur upper stage with the super-cold liquid hydrogen fuel following chilldown of the system. The Centaur holds about 12,300 gallons of the cryogenic propellant for this two-burn mission to achieve a departure orbit.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:49

The high-pressure helium bottles for first stage main engine pneumatics have been charged for flight.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/09/atlas-5-solar-orbiter-launch-timeline/

Atlas 5/Solar Orbiter launch timeline
February 9, 2020 | Stephen Clark

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket's ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft to study the sun.

Launch is scheduled 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday (0403 GMT Monday) at the opening of a two-hour launch window.

The 189-foot-tall (57.6-meter) rocket will arc to the southeast from Florida's Space Coast on its first flight of the year. It will be the 82nd Atlas 5 launch overall since United Launch Alliance's workhorse rocket debuted in August 2002.

The timeline below ends with the conclusion of the primary mission, the deployment of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on an interplanetary escape trajectory into heliocentric orbit to begin its mission studying the sun.

Follow live coverage of the countdown and launch in our Mission Status Center.

Спойлер

T+00:00.0: Liftoff


With the RD-180 main engine running and single solid rocket booster firing, the Atlas 5 vehicle lifts off and begins a vertical rise away from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

T+00:1:09: Max Q


The Atlas 5 rocket, after breaking the sound barrier at 58 seconds, passes through the region of maximum dynamic pressure during ascent through the lower atmosphere.

T+02:19.8 Jettison SRB


Having burned out of propellant approximately 50 seconds earlier, the spent solid rocket booster is jettisoned once dynamic pressure conditions are satisfied.

T+04:03.4 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+04:09.4 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+04:19.4 Centaur Ignition 1


The Centaur RL10C-1 engine ignites for the first of two upper stage firings. This burn will inject the Centaur stage and Solar Orbiter spacecraft into an initial parking orbit.

T+04:27.3: Nose Cone Jettison


The payload fairing that protected the Solar Orbiter spacecraft during launch is separated after passage through the atmosphere.

T+12:14.1: Centaur MECO 1


The Centaur engine shuts down after arriving in a planned low-Earth parking orbit. The vehicle enters a 10-minute coast period before arriving at the required location in space for the second burn.

T+42:57.9 Centaur Ignition 2


A final push by Centaur is ignited to accelerate the Solar Orbiter spacecraft to Earth escape velocity.

T+49:50.8 Centaur Cutoff 2


The powered phase of flight is concluded as the Centaur reaches a velocity of some 27,000 mph relative to Earth for deployment of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

T+52:39.9 Spacecraft Separation


The Airbus Defense and Space-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft deploys from the Centaur upper stage on a trajectory entering a heliocentric orbit around the sun.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

Feb 10 05:53

Flight control final preps are getting underway. This is the steering test pattern run on the Atlas V engine nozzles to ensure proper gimbaling during the ascent.

[tnt22]

Feb 10 06:07

The liquid hydrogen tank in the Centaur upper stage just reached the 96 percent level. Topping is beginning.

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarorbiter/2020/02/09/solar-orbiter-awaiting-liftoff-on-atlas-v-rocket/

Solar Orbiter Awaiting Liftoff on Atlas V Rocket

Anna Heiney
Posted Feb 9, 2020 at 9:45 pm


The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with the Solar Orbiter spacecraft sealed in the payload fairing, awaits liftoff on Sunday, Feb. 9, at Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Image credit: NASA TV

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is poised for liftoff tonight from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On board is the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, an international collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. Countdown clocks across the spaceport are ticking down toward scheduled liftoff at 11:03 p.m. EST. There's a two-hour launch window.

Forecasters with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting a 90% chance of weather favorable for launch, with the potential for ground winds the primary concern.

Join us for updates from the countdown starting at 10:30 p.m.

Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout the solar system. The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun's poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun's 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.

[tnt22]

 William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 8 мин. назад

A5/Solar Orbiter: Now inside 1 hour to launch of the ESA-led Solar Orbiter atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket; liftoff from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for 11:03:00pm EST; there are no known technical issues and the weather appears ideal

[tnt22]

 Tory Bruno‏ @torybruno 3 мин. назад

We are topping. The board is green. No majors issues.

А шо, minor всё-таки имеются???

[PIN]

tnt22 написал:
А шо, minor всё-таки имеются???

Всегда. 

[tnt22]

Feb 10 06:23

Atlas V 411



This launch uses the 411 version of the Atlas V rocket, generating the necessary power to deliver Solar Orbiter on the desired hyperbolic departure orbit to make repeated flybys of the sun.

This configuration of the Atlas V is distinguished by two stages, a four-meter-wide nose cone, a single side-mounted solid-fuel booster and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will come off the pad on 1.2 million pounds of thrust produced by the RD-180 main engine and solid.

Today's version stands 189 feet tall and weighs 850,150 pounds.

The 411 has flown five times before, including the ASTRA 1KR, NROL-28 and -34, OSIRIS-REx and SBIRS GEO Flight 4 missions.