TIBA-1, Inmarsat GX5 - Ariane 5 ECA (VA250) - Kourou ELA-3 - 26.11.2019, 21:23 UTC

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 John Kraus  :f09f9a80:‏ @johnkrausphotos 5 мин. назад

Counting down... just over 4 hours until the launch of Ariane 5 #VA250!
#FINALOneMoreShotToSeeVA250

[Новый]

Какое-то тревожное ощущение... 

[Чебурашка]

Новый написал:
Какое-то тревожное ощущение...  

Опять азимут пуска перепутают?
А вот если бы как диды вращали ракету вместе со стартом, перепутать было бы сложно

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 Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 55 мин. назад

Cryogenic fueling preparations are beginning in Kourou, French Guiana, for launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with two European-built communications satellites at 4:09pm EST (2109 GMT). LIVE COVERAGE: https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/11/22/ariane-5-va250-mission-status-center/ ...

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 Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 54 мин. назад

A pre-fueling weather report suggests upper level wind conditions are trending more favorable for launch in French Guiana this afternoon.

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 Arianespace‏ @Arianespace 13 мин. назад

Update from French Guiana: #Arianespace's Flight #VA250 is on track for liftoff later today on a mission that will deploy #TIBA1 and Inmarsat #GX5 to geostationary transfer orbit. Launch window opens at 21:09 UTC.

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Трансляция пуска (en)

youtube.com/watch?v=oUNOJ28DiJg

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11/26/2019 23:33 Stephen Clark

Minus-35 minutes. The Ariane 5's first and second stages are fully loaded loaded with cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

The 17.7-foot-diameter first stage's Vulcain 2 engine burns 149.5 metric tons, or about 329,000 pounds, of liquid oxygen and 25 metric tons, or about 55,000 pounds, of liquid hydrogen. The cryogenic upper stage's HM7B engine consumes about 14.7 metric tons, or more than 32,000 pounds, of oxygen and hydrogen.

The fluids are stored at super-cold temperatures and naturally boil off in the warm tropical atmosphere in French Guiana. More propellant is slowly pumped into the rocket for most of the countdown to replenish the cryogenic fuel.

The topping sequence ends in the final few minutes of the countdown as the fuel tanks are pressurized and the fueling system is secured.

Built by a consortium of European contractors led by Ariane Group's facility in Vernon, France, the Vulcain 2 engine generates up to 300,000 pounds of thrust during its 9-minute firing. It burns about 320 kilograms, or 705 pounds, of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant per second.

The engine's nozzle has an exit diameter of 2.1 meters, or about 6.9 feet. It weighs more than 4,600 pounds and its liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen turbopumps spin at 12,300 rpm and 35,800 rpm, respectively.

The Vulcain 2 replaced the Vulcain engine used on the initial version of the Ariane 5. The newer engine produces 20 percent more thrust.

The Ariane 5's upper stage is powered by an HM7B engine, a modified version of the HM7 engine used on the upper stage of the Ariane 4 rocket. The 364-pound HM7B engine is manufactured by Ariane Group in Ottobrunn, Germany.

The HM7B engine produces more than 14,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum.

The Ariane 5 configuration with a Vulcain 2 engine and HM7B-powered cryogenic upper stage is known as the Ariane 5 ECA.

The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters are packed with propellant near the launch site in French Guiana before they are assembled and positioned on each side of the cryogenic core stage.

With the rocket now fully fueled for launch, the vehicle weighs 1.7 million pounds. At liftoff, the rocket produces 2.9 million pounds of thrust.

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11/26/2019 23:38 Stephen Clark

Minus-30 minutes. Some statistics on today's flight:

[/li]
• 250th launch of an Ariane rocket since 1979
  
• 313th Arianespace mission
  
• 106th launch of an Ariane 5 rocket since 1996
  
• 4th satellite for Egypt launched by Arianespace
  
• 10th Inmarsat satellite launched by Arianespace
  
• 127th Airbus-built satellite launched by Arianespace
  
• 161st Thales Alenia Space-built satellite launched by Arianespace
  
• 73rd launch of an Ariane 5 ECA rocket since 2002
  
• 81st flight of a Vulcain 2 engine
  
• 105th flight of an HM7B engine
  
• 91st Ariane 5 launch targeting GTO
  
• 8th launch from the Guiana Space Center in 2019
  
• 4th Ariane 5 launch in 2019
  

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11/26/2019 23:59 Stephen Clark

Minus-10 minutes. The status board in the Jupiter control center is all green, indicating no problems at this point in the countdown.

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11/27/2019 00:01 Stephen Clark

The range operations director at the Guiana Space Center reports weather conditions are currently "red" for launch of the Ariane 5 rocket. Today's launch window extends until 5:54pm EST (2254 GMT).

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Верхние ветра!

Trevor Mahlmann‏ @TrevorMahlmann 4 мин. назад

Red for upper level winds it sounds, but we have 95 minute long window - plenty of time! #VA250