Asiasat-8 - Falcon 9 V1.1 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 05.08.2014 08:00 UTC

[Lanista]

Фото КА нигде не проскакивало?

[che wi]

[AlexioM]

ВВК пишет:
Ну тогда все правильно, один размер ограничен(диаметр задан), тогда пришлось удлинять, только хорошо ли это?

Ответ очевиден. Нет, конечно. Возникает вопрос по прочности. При заданной исходной массе конструкций, просто увеличив диаметр и уменьшив высоту, можно было бы получить бОльший объем баков. Конечно, если учесть прочие ограничения - то не очень большой выигрыш, но тем не менее. Либо при заданном исходном объеме баков можно было бы получить выигрыш по массе конструкций. 
Для каждой ракеты можно посчитать оптимальный диаметр. Правда, придется учесть возможность апгрейда ракеты. В случае развития РН Falcon от v1.0 к v1.1 они пошли по самому простому, дешевому, и наверно, единственно возможному для них пути. Как только получили Merlin 1D - увеличили высоту макаронины.

[Space Alien]

Lanista пишет:
Фото КА нигде не проскакивало?

Вот здесь еще несколько фотографий есть   . 

[Space Alien]

Стартовое окно, согласно NSF, расширили до 12:11 ЛМВ.

[che wi]

[ВВК]

AlexioM пишет:
Ответ очевиден. Нет, конечно. Возникает вопрос по прочности.

Не у Вас одного.

AlexioM пишет:
Как только получили Merlin 1D - увеличили высоту макаронины.

Очень логичное сравнение

[Lanista]

Спасибо за фото!

[Петр Зайцев]

Кто-нибудь видел массу в момент отделения? Я слышал, что больше 4850 кг, но сколько точно - неясно.

[Salo]

Превью от NSF:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/08/spacex-falcon-9-v1-1-asiasat-8-launch/

Превью от SFN:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/011/140804preview/#.U-BbyaP-5eI

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/011/status.html

0320 GMT (11:20 p.m. EDT Mon.)
Today's flight is fr om Space Launch Complex 40, which was formerly used by the Air Force's Titan 4 rocket until its last flight from Florida in April 2005. SpaceX took over the pad and launched the first Falcon 9 rocket from there on June 4, 2010.

The second Falcon 9 launch on Dec. 8, 2010, sent SpaceX's first Dragon capsule into space on a two-orbit test flight for SpaceX's commercial cargo services to the space station. The December 2010 flight did not go to the space station, but it demonstrated Dragon's avionics and heat shield, culminating with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX's next launch on May 22, 2012, launched the Dragon spacecraft on a NASA-sponsored test flight to the International Space Station. The 9-day Dragon mission delivered cargo to the space station and returned hardware from orbit with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on May 31.

On Oct. 7, 2012, SpaceX launched its fourth Falcon 9 rocket on the first operational Dragon resupply flight to the space station. The three-week mission delivered 882 pounds of cargo to the complex and returned to Earth on Oct. 28 with 1,673 pounds of equipment.

A Falcon 9 launch on March 1, 2013, put up another automated Dragon cargo craft en route to the space station with 1,869 pounds of supplies. It arrived at the outpost March 3 and stayed for 23 days before coming back to Earth with 2,668 pounds of return cargo.

The Falcon 9's first launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California occurred Sept. 29, 2013, and deployed Canada's Cassiope space weather research and communications demonstration satellite into polar orbit. The launch also marked the first flight of SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 vehicle, which includes more powerful first stage engines, stretched fuel tanks and other changes.

SpaceX's first launch into geostationary transfer orbit occurred Dec. 3, 2013, with the SES 8 Ku-band and Ka-band direct-to-home broadcasting and network services to cover the Asia-Pacific region for SES of Luxembourg.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched again Jan. 6 with the Thaicom 6 telecom satellite to provide C-band and Ku-band communications services across Southeast Asia and Africa.

SpaceX's third operational cargo resupply flight to the space station lifted off April 18 on a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the first time the launcher flew with first stage landing legs in a bid to make the vehicle reusable. The Dragon spacecraft delivered supplies to the space station and returned to Earth a month later.

The Falcon 9's 10th flight July 14 placed six small washing machine-sized delay relay communications satellites into low Earth orbit for Orbcomm Inc.

0250 GMT (10:50 p.m. EDT on Mon.)
Kerosene and liquid oxygen are being pumped aboard the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket. Both stages burn the mix of liquid propellants to fuel 10 Merlin 1D engines.

SpaceX says the webcast of today's launch will begin at 1:05 a.m. EDT (0505 GMT), about 20 minutes prior to liftoff, and continue through the first cutoff of the second stage engine about 10 minutes into the mission.

We will have the live webcast on this page.

If you are heading out to the beach or Port Canaveral to watch the launch, sign up for our Twitter feed to get occasional countdown updates on your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

And if you are need tips on picking a good viewing spot, check out this authoritative guide on wh ere to go.

0030 GMT (8:30 p.m. EDT on Mon.)
Technicians rolled the Falcon 9 rocket to the launch pad Sunday, using hydraulics to lift the 224-foot-tall booster on its launch mount at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40.

Workers then began plugging into electrical and propellant lines ahead of the start of the countdown this evening.

No problems are reported at this stage in the launch preparations. Fueling of the two-stage rocket with RP-1 fuel -- a highly-refined kerosene -- and liquid oxygen should begin shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 GMT).

The rocket is one of the tallest in the world. The Falcon 9's first and second stages measure 12 feet in diameter, and the SpaceX-built payload fairing housing the Thaicom 6 communications satellite is 17 feet in diameter (5.2 meters) and 43 feet tall.

[Space Alien]

[Salo]

0455 GMT (12:55 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 30 minutes. Today's launch is heading for a geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee, or high point, of 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) and a perigee, or low point, of 185 kilometers (114 miles). The target inclination is 24.3 degrees.

Built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., the AsiaSat 8 satellite is destined for a slot 22,300 miles above the equator in geostationary orbit at 105.5 degrees east longitude, where its Ku-band and Ka-band payload will beam direct-to-home television broadcasts and other services to China, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and surrounding regions for 15 years.

Today's mission marks the third SpaceX Falcon 9 launch with a satellite heading for a geostationary transfer orbit after the Dec. 3 launch with the SES 8 communications satellite and the Jan. 6 liftoff of Thaicom 6. Such an orbit requires two burns of the Falcon 9's upper stage Merlin 1D engine, first to place the satellite into a low-altitude parking orbit, then to raise its apogee to geostationary altitude or higher.

AsiaSat of Hong Kong has another satellite at Cape Canaveral -- AsiaSat 6 -- being prepared for launch on another Falcon 9 rocket before the end of August.

0425 GMT (12:25 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 60 minutes. Skies are partly cloudy over Cape Canaveral as the countdown continues for liftoff at 1:25 a.m. EDT (0525 GMT) at the opening of a 2-hour, 46-minute launch window.

Weather balloons are being launched throughout the countdown to monitor winds aloft.

[Salo]

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

[Space Alien]

И на ютубе

[Space Alien]

[Space Alien]

[AlexioM]

The spacecraft is based on SS/L's LS-1300LL satellite bus that can accommodate powerful communication payloads. The satellite has a mass of around five metric tons and features two solar arrays each with four panels for power generation of more than 10kW. The satellite uses a chemical propulsion system for apogee maneuvers and stationkeeping in Geostationary Orbit. Three-axis stabilization and navigation is accomplished by state of the art navigation sensors and reaction wheels. 

AsiaSat-8 hosts a communications payload of 24 Ku-Band transponders and one Ka-Band terminal for a total payload power of 8,500 Watts. 

http://www.spaceflight101.com/spacex-falcon-9---asiasat-8-launch-updates.html

Масса спутника - около пяти метрических тонн.
Для Falcon-9 1.1 это будет рекордный полет по выводимой массе на геопереходную орбиту. Интересно, какой апогей будет достигнут. 
Предыдущие запуски были такими:
1. 3 декабря 2013. Масса 3200 кг. Перигей 398 км, апогей примерно 80000 км. Наклонение 20.55°.
2. 6 января 2014. Масса 3016 кг. Перигей 295 км, апогей примерно 90000 км. Наклонение 22.46°.

[Salo]

0522 GMT (1:22 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The strongback has been locked in to launch position.

0522 GMT (1:22 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The rocket's destruct system is on internal power and being armed, and liquid oxygen topping is being terminated.

The strongback has retracted into the launch position more than 20 degrees from the rocket.

The second stage thrust vector steering system has checked out and is ready for flight.

0520 GMT (1:20 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 5 minutes and counting. The cradles connecting the strongback to the Falcon 9 rocket have opened.

0519 GMT (1:19 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 6 minutes and counting. The Falcon 9 rocket is now operating on internal power.

The strongback umbilical tower will soon be lowered a few degrees to clear the rocket for launch. The procedure begins with opening of cradles gripping the rocket at attach points, then hydraulics lower the tower into launch position.

0518 GMT (1:18 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 6 minutes, 30 seconds. The Falcon 9's heaters are being deactivated, and the rocket will be transitioned to internal power in a few seconds.

0518 GMT (1:18 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 7 minutes and counting. Within the next minute, the Falcon 9's flight computer will be commanded to its alignment state. The Merlin engine pumps are continuing to chill down.

The launch danger area around Cape Canaveral is clear for launch.

0517 GMT (1:17 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 8 minutes and counting. Good chilldown continues on the first stage engines, and closeouts of the upper stage's gaseous nitrogen attitude control system are underway.

0516 GMT (1:16 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 9 minutes and counting. Prevalves leading to the Falcon 9's Merlin 1D first stage engines are opening, permitting super-cold liquid oxygen to flow into the engines to condition the turbopumps for ignition.

0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The terminal countdown autosequence has started. Any hold after this point will result in an automatic abort and recycle to T-minus 13 minutes.

0513 GMT (1:13 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 12 minutes. The launch team has verified all consoles are go for liftoff at 1:25 a.m. EDT (0525 GMT).

All systems on the rocket and the AsiaSat 8 satellite, along with weather, are GO for launch. The AsiaSat 8 satellite was placed on internal battery power for liftoff a few minutes ago.

0510 GMT (1:10 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 15 minutes and counting. Here are some statistics on today's launch:

 11th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
 16th launch of Falcon rocket family since 2006
 10th Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral
 6th launch of a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket
 5th Falcon 9 v1.1 launch from Cape Canaveral
 4th Falcon 9 night launch
 4th Falcon 9 launch of 2014
 11th launch from Cape Canaveral in 2014

0508 GMT (1:08 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 17 minutes and counting. The Falcon 9 rocket stands 224 feet tall and measures 12 feet in diameter. At liftoff, its nine Merlin 1D first stage engines will generate about 1.3 million pounds of thrust.

Keep up with the launch sequence with this timeline of key events during the Falcon 9's ascent to orbit.

0505 GMT (1:05 a.m. EDT)
T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The SpaceX webcast is beginning now.

The final poll of the launch team stationed in a control center will begin at T-minus 13 minutes before the countdown enters the final phase.

0459 GMT (12:59 a.m. EDT)
Liquid oxygen topping continues on the Falcon 9 rocket's first and second stages. The first stage is filled with about 850,000 pounds of propellant, and the second stage is loaded with about 200,000 pounds. Both stages burn RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen.

[Space Alien]

Остановка на -00:12