TDRS-M – Atlas V 401 – Канаверал SLC-41 – 18.08.2017 12:29 UTC

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08/16/2017 16:08  Atlas 5 is rolling
First motion has occurred and the Atlas 5 rocket's rollout to the launch pad is underway for Friday's liftoff.

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08/16/2017 17:08  On the pad
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with the TDRS-M spacecraft aboard moved to the launch pad this morning for liftoff Friday to replenish NASA's data-relay infrastructure in space.

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With the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M mounted atop the two-stage launcher, the 191-foot-tall rocket was rolled out from the vertical assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41.

Liftoff is scheduled for 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT) to deliver the 7,610-pound payload into an optimized high-perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit.

"This is a communications satellite. What is special is the comm it transports is primarily from our astronauts on space station. In that regard, it makes it unique and important," said Tim Dunn, the NASA launch director for TDRS-M.

The Atlas 5 began its third-of-a-mile trek to the launch pad with first-motion at 9:08 a.m. EDT (1308 GMT), arriving atop Complex 41 at 10 a.m. The first stage will be filled with 25,000 gallons of RP-1 fuel, a highly-refined kerosene, later today.

After a crew rest day Thursday to sync with the early morning launch, countdown clocks begin ticking just after 1 a.m. o Friday.

It will be the third time a TDRS has been launched by the Atlas 5 and sixth for the overall Atlas program.

The 401 version of the Atlas 5 will do the lifting this time. It has flown 36 times in the past 15 years, including 9 times for NASA's Launch Services Program.

Flying again on a well-understood launch vehicle eases some of the workload for LSP engineers and analysts to ensure the critical national asset gets into space successfully.

"It is generally smoother work because we can reuse a lot of the analysis that we have done for TDRS-K and TDRS-L on a 401, but it is the same level of technical rigor that we apply. We do reperform the thermal analysis, dynamic analysis, certainly the trajectory analysis. So on one hand, it's almost like a standalone mission, but we understand the 401," Dunn said.

Weather forecasters give a 70 percent chance of good conditions for launch.

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NOTMAR

 

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/08/16/photos-atlas-5-rolled-out-with-tdrs-m/

Photos: Atlas 5 rolled out with TDRS-M
August 16, 2017 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was transferred fr om its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 today for Friday's launch of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M that directly supports the International Space Station and various science missions.

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Liftoff is planned for 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT).

The rocket was wheeled out aboard a mobile launcher platform, emerging from the hangar wh ere the rocket's two stages and the payload were stacked over the past month.

The slow drive from the 30-story Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad used a pair of specially-made "trackmobiles" to carry the rocket's 1.4-million pound launching platform along rail tracks for the 1,800-foot trip.

The rocket is flying in the 401 vehicle configuration. The version features two stages, a four-meter-diameter nose cone and no solids. It is powered off the launch pad by an RD AMROSS RD-180 main engine. The Centaur upper stage has an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 cryogenic engine.

Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

See earlier TDRS-M launch coverage.

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ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 30 мин. назад

The ULA #AtlasV with @NASA_TDRS is on the launch pad! Liftoff planned for 8:03amEDT on Aug. 18; broadcast at 7:30am http://bit.ly/av_tdrsm 

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АНОНС

NASA TDRS‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_TDRS 59 мин. назад

Check it out! We're going to be LIVE from the #TDRSM launch pad at 6 p.m. ET tomorrow! Join us on our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.TDRS 

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Tory Bruno‏Подлинная учетная запись @torybruno 33 мин. назад

RP1 tanking completed. Minor challenges from lightning and tornados overcome. Mighty Atlas Can't wait to go to space. #TDRSM

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Tory Bruno‏Подлинная учетная запись @torybruno 44 мин. назад

Planning on some excitement tomorrow #TDRSM

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Military Flight‏ @Military_Flight 11 мин. назад

Weather now 80% Go for Friday's launch of ULA #AtlasV 401 from Cape Canaveral AFS carrying #NASA #TDRSM satellite to orbit. T-0: 8:03 am EDT

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