AFSPC-5: X-37B OTV-4, ULTRASat, LightSail A - Atlas V 501 (AV-054) - Канаверал SLC-41 - 20.05.2015 15:05 UTC

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/05/19/av054journal/

1355 GMT (9:55 a.m. EDT)
Fast-filling of the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been completed. Topping mode is now underway.

1354 GMT (9:54 a.m. EDT)
The liquid hydrogen tank in the Centaur upper stage just reached the 97 percent level. Topping is now beginning.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)
Centaur's liquid hydrogen tank is 40 percent full. The cryogenic propellant will be consumed with liquid oxygen by the stage's Aerojet Rocketdyne-made RL10 engine.

1341 GMT (9:41 a.m. EDT)
The first stage liquid oxygen has reached the 70 percent level.

1336 GMT (9:36 a.m. EDT)
Chilldown of the liquid hydrogen system has been accomplished. The launch team has received the "go" to begin filling the Centaur upper stage with the supercold fuel.

1335 GMT (9:35 a.m. EDT)
Launch of the Atlas 5 rocket is just 90 minutes away.

1333 GMT (9:33 a.m. EDT)
Half of the Atlas liquid oxygen tank has been filled so far.

1327 GMT (9:27 a.m. EDT)
 Upper stage liquid oxygen has reached flight level.
 
1325 GMT (9:25 a.m. EDT)
 First stage liquid oxygen tank is 30 percent full thus far. Chilled to Minus-298 degrees F, the liquid oxygen will be used with RP-1 kerosene by the RD-180 main engine on the first stage during the initial four-and-a-half minutes of flight today. The 25,000 gallons of RP-1 were loaded into the rocket yesterday.
 
1320 GMT (9:20 a.m. EDT)
 The Centaur liquid oxygen tank reached the 96 percent level. The topping off process is starting now.
 
1315 GMT (9:15 a.m. EDT)
 The first stage liquid oxygen flow rate is switching from slow-fill to fast-fill mode.
 
1312 GMT (9:12 a.m. EDT)
 The chilldown conditioning of liquid hydrogen propellant lines at Complex 41 is starting to prepare the plumbing for transferring the Minus-423 degree F fuel into the rocket. The Centaur holds about 12,700 gallons of the cryogenic propellant.
 
1311 GMT (9:11 a.m. EDT)
 Now three-quarters full on Centaur liquid oxygen.
 
1306 GMT (9:06 a.m. EDT)
 The chilldown conditioning of the systems for the first stage liquid oxygen tank have been completed. And a "go" has been given to begin pumping supercold liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5's first stage.
The Common Core Booster stage's liquid oxygen tank is the largest tank to be filled today. It holds 49,000 gallons of cryogenic oxidizer for the RD-180 main engine.
 
1305 GMT (9:05 a.m. EDT)
 Fifty percent of the Centaur liquid oxygen tank has been filled so far.
 
1258 GMT (8:58 a.m. EDT)
 The Centaur liquid oxygen tank has reached the 20 percent mark.
 
1250 GMT (8:50 a.m. EDT)
 Filling of the Centaur upper stage with about 4,150 gallons of liquid oxygen has begun at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 following the thermal conditioning of the transfer pipes.
The liquid oxygen -- chilled to Minus-298 degrees F -- will be consumed during the launch by the Centaur's single RL10 engine along with liquid hydrogen to be pumped into the stage a little later in the countdown. The Centaur will provide the thrust to put X-37B into orbit.
 
1243 GMT (8:43 a.m. EDT)
 The Centaur liquid oxygen pad storage area has been prepped. The next step is conditioning the transfer lines, which is now beginning to prepare the plumbing for flowing the cryogenic oxidizer.
 
1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)
 T-minus 120 minutes and counting! The launch countdown is continuing on schedule for today's flight of the Atlas 5 rocket with the Orbital Test Vehicle No. 4 aboard.
Clocks have one more built-in hold planned at T-minus 4 minutes. During that pause the final "go" for launch will be given. All remains targeted for liftoff at 11:05 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.
In the next couple of minutes, chilldown thermal conditioning of the mobile launch platform upon which the rocket stands will begin. This is meant to ease the shock on equipment when supercold cryogenic propellants start flowing into the rocket.
 
1233 GMT (8:33 a.m. EDT)
 After briefing his team on procedures before entering into the final two hours of the countdown, the launch conductor at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center just held a pre-fueling readiness poll. All console operators reported a "ready" status.
The ULA launch director also voiced his approval for proceeding with the countdown.
Loading of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the Atlas 5 rocket will be getting underway a short time from now.

1205 GMT (8:05 a.m. EDT)
 T-minus 2 hours and holding. The countdown has just entered the first of two planned holds over the course of the day that will lead to the 11:05 a.m. EDT launch of the Atlas rocket. The holds give the team some margin in the countdown timeline to deal with technical issues or any work that is running behind. The final hold is scheduled to occur at T-minus 4 minutes.
 
1130 GMT (7:30 a.m. EDT)
 LAUNCH TIME. A pair of 10-minute launch windows will be avaialble for the X-37B to take flight aboard the Atlas 5 rocket today. Liftoff is targeted for 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT). A backup opportunity begins at 12:42 p.m. EDT (1642 GMT).

[Salo]

1437 GMT (10:37 a.m. EDT)
 Weather remains GO for liftoff based on the current conditions and expected to stay favorable for an 11:05 a.m. EDT launch today. Forecasters are predicting conditions to worsen as the afternoon goes along.
 
1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)
 Thirty minutes from liftoff.
 
1431 GMT (10:31 a.m. EDT)
 T-minus 4 minutes and holding. The countdown has entered the planned 30-minute hold to give the launch team a chance to review all systems and assess the weather before pressing ahead with liftoff.
 
1430 GMT (10:30 a.m. EDT)
 T-minus 5 minutes. Standing by to go into the final built-in hold.
 
1425 GMT (10:25 a.m. EDT)
 Now 40 minutes till launch. Rumbling away from the planet on nearly a million pounds of thrust, the Atlas 5 rocket will be flying in a basic, two-stage configuration without any added strap-on solid motors. The vehicle sports a voluminous nose cone that encapsulates the X-37B spaceplane during the atmospheric ascent before being shed.
In technical speak, this is the Atlas 5-501 configuration that has successfully flown five times. The first was the original X-37B launch in April 2010.
With the liftoff thrust not considerably more than the rocket's weight, this Atlas will display a slow and majestic rise trailing only a flickering golden flame from its RD-180 main engine.
Once above the launch pad, the rocket sets sail for the eastward trek downrange over the Atlantic Ocean, constantly gaining speed as its double-nozzle engine gulps 25,000 gallons of kerosene fuel and 50,000 gallons of superchilled liquid oxygen in just four-and-a-half minutes.
The bronze first stage, its propellants depleted and job now completed, then jettisons with the help of tiny thrusters. Some 106.5 feet long and 12.5 feet around, the stage is discarded to fall back into the open sea.
The cryogenic Centaur upper stage ignites moments after shedding the lower booster, lighting the RL10 engine to continue clawing toward orbit.
Covered with insulating foam, this stage stretches 41.5 feet in length and 10 feet in diameter. Centaur must perform the full burn to loft X-37B into the proper orbit around the planet.
 
1419 GMT (10:19 a.m. EDT)
 The fuel-fill sequence for the first stage main engine is starting.
 
1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT)
 Atlas 5 represents the culmination of evolution stretching back several decades to America's first intercontinental ballistic missile. At the dawn of the space age, boosters named Atlas launched men into orbit during Project Mercury and became a frequent vehicle of choice to haul civil, military and commercial spacecraft to orbit.
Topped with the high-energy Centaur upper stage, Atlas rockets have been used since the 1960s to dispatch ground-breaking missions for NASA, including the Surveyors to the Moon, Mariner flights to Mars, Venus and Mercury, and the Pioneers that were the first to visit Jupiter and beyond.
In its newest era, the Atlas 5 rocket sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to the red planet in 2005, propelled the New Horizons probe toward Pluto and the solar system's outer fringes in 2006, doubled up with the dual Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS impactor to the Moon in 2009, hurled Juno to Jupiter in August 2011 and dispatched the car-sized Curiosity rover on the Mars Science Lab mission in November 2013.
Today marks the 54th flight for Atlas 5, born of the Air Force's competition to develop next-generation Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles. In its previous 53 missions since debuting in August 2002, the Atlas 5 has flown 19 flights dedicated to the Defense Department, 12 for NASA, 11 with spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. and 11 commercial missions with communications and Earth-observing spacecraft.
 
1405 GMT (10:05 a.m. EDT)
 Now 60 minutes from liftoff. Fueling of the Atlas rocket with cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is complete as the countdown continues as planned for a liftoff at 11:05 a.m. EDT.

[che wi]

Немного статистики по данному пуску:

- The 636th launch for Atlas program since 1957
- The 342nd Atlas launch from Cape Canaveral
- The 225th mission of a Centaur upper stage
- The 202nd use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket
- The 44th Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral
- The 458th production RL10 engine to be launched
- The 60th flight of the RD-180 main engine
- The 54th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
- The 20th Air Force mission for an Atlas 5
- The 83rd Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
- The 96th United Launch Alliance flight overall
- The 64th United Launch Alliance flight from Cape Canaveral
- The 46th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
- The 19th 500-series flight of the Atlas 5
- The 6th Atlas 5 to fly in the 501 configuration
- The 3rd Atlas 5 launch of 2015

отсюда

[Salo]

Пошла трансляция:
http://www.ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx

[Salo]

1450 GMT (10:50 a.m. EDT)
The Atlas 5 rocket stands 20 stories tall and weighs 757,000 pounds at launch.

1446 GMT (10:46 a.m. EDT)
No problems being reported by the launch team. Countdown continues to sit in the hold period at T-minus 4 minutes, waiting for the launch window to open at 11:05 a.m. EDT.

1440 GMT (10:40 a.m. EDT)
Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

 The 636th launch for Atlas program since 1957
 The 342nd Atlas launch from Cape Canaveral
 The 225th mission of a Centaur upper stage
 The 202nd use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket
 The 44th Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral
 The 458th production RL10 engine to be launched
 The 60th flight of the RD-180 main engine
 The 54th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
 The 20th Air Force mission for an Atlas 5
 The 83rd Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
 The 96th United Launch Alliance flight overall
 The 64th United Launch Alliance flight from Cape Canaveral
 The 46th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
 The 19th 500-series flight of the Atlas 5
 The 6th Atlas 5 to fly in the 501 configuration
 The 3rd Atlas 5 launch of 2015

[che wi]

[Salo]

Две минуты до пуска.

[che wi]

- 1 мин.

[che wi]

Пошла.

[Salo]

Улетела!

[Александр Ч.]

Пошла

[che wi]

[che wi]

[che wi]

Сброс ГО

[che wi]

Отделение 1 ст.

[Salo]

Есть сброс ГО и отделение первой ступени.

[che wi]

[Lesobaza]

Ура!! РД-180 отработал!!

[Lesobaza]

Одно время было ощущение, что РН начинает на Орландо заваливаться - к западу заклоняться. Хорошо, горизонт вовремя появился )))

[тавот]

На ULA Webcast рассказывают про солнечный парус. Дык вышел на орбиту или нет ?