Solar Probe Plus (Parker Solar Probe) – Delta IV H/Star-48BV – Canaveral SLC-37B – 12.08.2018 в 07:31 UTC

[tnt22]

2231 UTC (6:31 p.m. EDT) -- Countdown begins

This is Delta Launch Control at T-minus 8 hours and counting.

The launch team has initiated a second countdown to fly the United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket and send NASA's Parker Solar Probe on its voyage to become the first spacecraft to "touch" the sun.

The application of power to the avionics aboard the Delta IV Heavy rocket is beginning at the start of today's countdown. The equipment is being powered up to start launch day testing and final preparations for fueling operations.

Activities are on schedule for liftoff at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 UTC). The day's launch window will remain open through 4:36 a.m. (0836 UTC), a duration of 65 minutes.

The countdown features two pre-planned, built-in holds, each lasting 30 minutes, scheduled in the count. One pause is reserved prior to fueling at T-minus 4 hours, 15 minutes, the other occurs prior to the Terminal Count at T-minus 4 minutes.

[tnt22]

ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 9 мин. назад

We are counting down once again to launch of the Parker #SolarProbe mission on ULA's #DeltaIV Heavy rocket. Launch is planned for 3:31amEDT, and the live broadcast begins at 3amEDT. Launch journal updates already have begun at http://bit.ly/div_solarprobe 

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 05:38 Stephen Clark

The updated weather outlook calls for a 70 percent probability of acceptable weather during Sunday's predawn launch window opening at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

Launch weather officer Kathy Rice briefed the Delta 4-Heavy launch team a few minutes ago. The primary weather concern continues to be with anvil clouds drifting onshore from thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 07:32 Stephen Clark

T-minus 2 hours, 30 minutes and counting. No problems have been reported so far in the countdown as loading of the Delta 4-Heavy's upper stage with cryogenic propellant begins.

[tnt22]

Robin Seemangal‏Подлинная учетная запись @nova_road 3 ч. назад

Northrop Grumman #ParkerSolarProbe patch

[tnt22]

Tory Bruno‏Подлинная учетная запись @torybruno 54 мин. назад

Feels like a good day to go to space

[tnt22]

NASA Sun & Space‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASASun 37 мин. назад

It's #SunDay, and today we're sending a spacecraft to the Sun! At 3:31 a.m. EDT / 12:31 a.m. PDT, we're launching #ParkerSolarProbe, which will go seven times closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before. Join us live at 3 a.m. EDT / 12 a.m. PDT: http://nasa.gov/live 

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/08/11/delta-4-heavy-launch-timeline-with-parker-solar-probe/

Delta 4-Heavy launch timeline with Parker Solar Probe
August 11, 2018 | Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, crowned by a solid-fueled upper stage kick motor, will send NASA's Parker Solar Probe on a speedy voyage through the inner solar system following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

The 233-foot-tall (71-meter) launcher is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 37B launch pad powered by three Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engines.

The Delta 4-Heavy has flown nine times before, and is made up of three modified Delta 4 first stage cores bolted together. The all-cryogenic launcher burns a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

The $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission will become the first spacecraft to travel inside the sun's corona, a scorching region of plasma extending a few million miles away from our star's surface. The mission's objectives include helping scientists unravel how the solar wind is heated and accelerated into the solar system, impacting the planets, including our own.

The timeline below is a rough approximation of the timing of the major launch events for the Delta 4-Heavy launch with Parker Solar Probe. The exact timing changes day-to-day based on the launch date in the mission's interplanetary window, which extends to Aug. 23.

Спойлер

Date source: ULA

T+00:00:00 — Liftoff


The United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket takes off powered by three Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engines. The hydrogen-burning powerplants ignite in a staggered fashion, with the starboard Common Booster Core set to ignite at T-minus 7 seconds, followed by the port and center boosters at T-minus 5 seconds.

T+00:03:57.6 — Port and Starboard Booster Jettison


After consuming their liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant mixture, the Delta 4-Heavy's port and starboard Common Booster Cores shut down their RS-68A main engines and jettison from the center core, which throttles up from a partial thrust setting to a full thrust mode after booster separation.

T+00:05:35.9 — Booster Engine Cutoff


The Delta 4's center RS-68A main engine shuts down after burning its supply of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

T+00:05:42.4 — First Stage Separation


The Delta 4's Common Booster Core separates from the rocket's second stage.

T+00:05:55.4 — First Main Engine Start


The Delta 4's second stage Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10B-2 engine ignites and powers up to 24,750 pounds of thrust in the first of its two firings on the Parker Solar Probe mission.

T+00:06:05.4 — Payload Fairing Jettison


The Delta 4's composite bisector fairing jettisons from the rocket once the launcher reaches a safe altitude above the dense lower layers of Earth's atmosphere.

T+00:10:37.1 — First Main Engine Cutoff


The second stage's RL10B-2 engine shuts down after placing Parker Solar Probe in a preliminary parking orbit, beginning a 12-minute coast before the engine reignites.

T+00:22:25.4 — Second Main Engine Start


The RL10B-2 second stage engine ignites again to send Parker Solar Probe on a trajectory to escape Earth's gravitational bond.

T+00:36:38.9 — Second Main Engine Cutoff


After burn lasting more than 14 minutes, the RL10B-2 second stage engine shuts down to end its second firing on the Parker Solar Probe mission.

T+00:37:09.0 — Second Stage Separation


The Star 48BV upper stage kick motor, developed by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, deploys from the Delta 4's second stage.

T+00:37:29.0 — Third Stage Ignition


The solid-fueled Star 48BV motor, featuring control thrusters and a vectorable nozzle, ignites for an 89-second burn to send Parker Solar Probe away from Earth at higher speed. Ignition occurs once the Star 48BV kick stage reaches a distance of at least 50 feet from the Delta 4's second stage.

T+00:38:58.0 — Third Stage Burnout


The Star 48BV upper stage kick motor burns out after consuming all its pre-packed solid propellant.

T+00:43:18.0 — Parker Solar Probe Separation


NASA's 1,424-pound (646-kilogram) Parker Solar Probe spacecraft separates from the Star 48BV kick stage, heading for a flyby of Venus in October to begin spiraling toward the sun.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 6 мин. назад

2hrs 30mins to launch. Right now, everything is continuing to go well.
#ParkerSolarProbe #DeltaIVHeavy #NASA @NASA

[tnt22]

0459 UTC (12:59 a.m. EDT)

The weather forecast has improved to 80 percent favorable for launch today.

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 08:11 Stephen Clark

The weather forecast for this morning's launch has improved again, now with an 80 percent probability of acceptable conditions at launch time.

Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station remains set for 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

The updated outlook just briefed to the Delta 4 launch team forecasts a few clouds at 3,000 feet, a broken deck of clouds at 22,000 feet, winds from the southwest at 10 knots, and a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit at launch time.

[tnt22]

NASA_LSP‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_LSP 3 мин. назад

After yesterday's scrub, @ulalaunch and @NASA_LSP engineers and technicians proceeded with executing a recycle timeline, a predefined series of tasks based on when in the countdown the scrub was called.

[tnt22]

Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 3 мин. назад

All of the Delta 4-Heavy's cryogenic propellant tanks have been loaded, and the launcher is standing fully fueled for liftoff with NASA's Parker Solar Probe at 3:31am EDT (0731 GMT).

[tnt22]

0545 UTC (1:45 a.m. EDT)

Loading of the upper stage liquid oxygen tank was just reported complete, giving us a 1.6-million-pound Delta IV Heavy rocket that is fueled for launch at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 UTC) today. At T-minus 1 hour, 15 minutes, 23 seconds and counting, this is Delta Launch Control.

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 08:52 Stephen Clark

Final inspections of the Delta 4-Heavy's thermal insulation is underway at this time. The launch team is using cameras to survey the orange foam covering the rocket's tanks containing super-cold propellants.

Also, the launch team is verifying the functionality of the Delta 4-Heavy's destruct system at this time.

[поц]

T. Restoule‏ @Travjenn14 45 мин.45 минут назад


#DeltaIVHeavy bat signals have been deployed..... hopinging for a Delta IV Parker Solar Probe launch.

[tnt22]

0601 UTC (2:01 a.m. EDT)

This is Delta Launch Control at T-minus 60 minutes and counting. We will be taking the countdown clock to T-minus 4 minutes before holding there for a pre-planned, 30-minute built-in hold. That is when the status polls by management will be performed to verify all is in readiness for liftoff.

[tnt22]

0609 UTC (2:09 a.m. EDT)

The launch team is setting up for flight slews, the next major milestone in the countdown. This is the steering test patterns run on the Delta IV Heavy rocket nozzles to ensure proper gimbaling during the ascent.

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 09:11 Stephen Clark

A functional test of the swing arm system at Complex 37B has been completed. The arms are programmed to swing away from the rocket at liftoff.

[tnt22]

08/12/2018 09:16 Stephen Clark

The flight hazard area around the Cape Canaveral launch base and in offshore waters has been verified clear.