Cygnus OA-9 (CRS-9) - Antares-230 - MARS LP-0A - 21.05.2018 08:44 UTC

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 08:58 Stephen Clark

The red team has been deployed back to the launch pad to troubleshoot a couple of troublesome valves in the ground system high-pressure gaseous nitrogen system.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 09:10 Stephen Clark

The launch team has resolved their concerns with the gaseous nitrogen system at the launch pad, and the red team is being called back to their fallback position.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 09:20 Stephen Clark

A report from the Wallops range indicates that toxic and debris constraints are "green."

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 09:39 Stephen Clark

Two hours until launch. The Antares countdown is in a pre-planned hold, but the launch team is still targeting 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT) for liftoff from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 09:53 Stephen Clark

The latest weather briefing to the launch team shows that weather conditions are currently "red" for launch due to a thunderstorm that has developed offshore from Wallops Island over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is violating launch constraints for lightning, cumulus clouds and disturbed weather.

But the launch weather officer expects storms to be far enough away from the launch pad to permit liftoff at 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT), and there continues to be a 75 percent probability of favorable conditions during today's five-minute launch window.

All three C-band tracking radars are now reported operational after some issues earlier in the countdown.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 09:58 Stephen Clark

The countdown has resumed after a 20-minute built-in hold.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 10:04 Stephen Clark

Low-flow loading of RP-1 kerosene into the Antares rocket's first stage is underway.

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/2018/05/21/crs-9-count-proceeding-weather-at-75-percent-favorable/

CRS-9 Count Proceeding; Weather at 75-Percent Favorable

Rob Garner
Posted May 21, 2018 at 2:21 am


Credit: NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket with Cygnus spacecraft is on schedule for a 5-minute launch window opening May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company's CRS-9 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch will be from Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

The latest forecast has upgraded the probability of favorable launch-time weather to 75 percent.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 10:34 Stephen Clark

High-flow loading of liquid oxygen into the first stage has begun, the launch team confirms.

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 2 мин. назад

Launch team working NO issues with #Antares, #Cygnus or GSE. Range is GREEN with no issues. Weather update briefing forthcoming.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 10:50 Stephen Clark

Engineers are loading the trajectory file into the Antares flight computer at this time.

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 10:51 Stephen Clark

The Antares' SIGI guidance computer is being aligned and configured for today's launch.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 10:59 Stephen Clark

40 minutes until liftoff. The Cygnus spacecraft on this flight is carrying 3,350 kilograms, or 7,385 pounds, of supplies to the International Space Station. This is the sixth flight of the enlarged Cygnus pressurized cargo module from Thales Alenia Space, providing 25 percent more interior volume for supplies. The spacecraft measures about 20 feet tall, and the pressurized cargo module has a volume of about 27 cubic meters, or 950 cubic feet.

Here are some statistics on today's launch:

[/li]
• 8th Antares rocket launch
• 3rd launch of the Antares 230 configuration
• 14th orbital launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
• 10th launch of a Cygnus spacecraft
• 1st orbital launch from Wallops in 2018
• 15th U.S. orbital launch in 2018
• 46th global orbital launch attempt in 2018
  

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

05/21/2018 11:11 Stephen Clark

The Antares launch team continues stepping through countdown procedures toward liftoff at 4:39:07 a.m. EDT (0839:07 GMT). Engineers are currently powering up the rocket's flight termination system.

[tnt22]

William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 40 сек. назад

Antares/OA9: Weather is a bit iffy, but forecasters are hopeful conditions will permit an on-time liftoff

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 57 сек. назад

NEW LAUNCH TIME. Weather is iffy. Launch pushed to end of window at 04:44:06 EDT (0844:06 UTC)