NOAA-19 - Delta-2(7320-10C) - 6.02.09 - Vandenberg

[Salo]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=27412

NASA, NOAA Set to Launch NOAA-N Satellite  


Thursday, January 22, 2009
Source: Goddard Space Flight Center  

WASHINGTON - NASA is preparing to launch NOAA'S latest polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite, called NOAA-N Prime, providing an essential resource for NOAA's weather forecasts and improving the U.S. search and rescue operations.

NOAA-N Prime is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif., on February 4, at 5:22 a.m. EST (2:22 a.m. PST).

"Within the U.S. and around the world there is a growing demand for reliable coverage and accurate data from satellites that can tell what's happening in the environment," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "Launching NOAA-N-Prime will help meet the demand."

As it orbits the Earth, NOAA-N Prime will collect data about the Earth's surface and atmosphere that are vital inputs to NOAA's weather forecasts. NOAA-N Prime has imaging and sounding capabilities that are broadcast around the world and recorded on board for playback over the NOAA and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellite ground stations. Space weather instruments provide data useful for warnings of solar winds that may impair communications, damage satellites and power systems, and affect astronaut safety. - NOAA-N Prime has instruments that support the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (SARSAT), part of the international satellite system that includes the Russian provided satellites (COSPAS). Since SARSAT was established in 1982, NOAA polar-orbiting satellites have been detecting emergency distress beacons set by aviators, mariners and individuals in remote locations and relaying them to ground stations so that rescue teams may be dispatched. More than 24,500 lives have been saved through the satellite based Search and Rescue system to date.

"NASA is proud of our many years of successful collaboration with NOAA in building and launching these polar orbiting satellites," stated Wayne McIntyre, the NASA's NOAA-N Prime Project Manager. "The success of this mission will provide a healthy polar constellation for continuous data products until the follow-on program launches."

NOAA-N Prime will replace NOAA-18 in a 2:00 p.m. local solar time orbit as the primary afternoon spacecraft. NOAA-N Prime will carry the same primary instruments as NOAA-18 plus an Advanced Data Collection System and an improved Search and Rescue Processor provided by France. NOAA-N Prime will be renamed NOAA-19 after achieving proper orbit.

NOAA manages the polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite program and establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis.

Twenty-one days after it is launched, NASA will transfer operational control of NOAA-19 to NOAA. NASA's comprehensive on-orbit verification period is expected to last approximately 45 days after launch.

For more information about NOAA-N Prime and the polar orbiting satellites, see the following web sites:

http://www.nasa.gov/noaa-n-prime

http://www.osd.noaa.gov/POES/noaa_n_prime.htm

http://nws.noaa.gov

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NOAA-N-Prime/main/index.html

NOAA-N Prime Update
 

Artist's concept of NOAA-N Prime in orbit. Image credit: Lockheed Martin

The NOAA-N Prime Mission
The NOAA-N Prime satellite, built for NASA by Lockheed Martin, will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world. NOAA-N Prime is the fifth and last in the current series of five polar-orbiting satellites with improved imaging and sounding capabilities.

The satellite will collect meteorological data and transmit the information to NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, which processes the data for input to the National Weather Service for its long-range weather and climate forecasts. Forecasters worldwide also will be able to access the satellite's images and data.

NOAA-N Prime has sensors that will be used in the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System to monitor for distress signals around the world.

Launch Preparations Update
The Flight Readiness Review for the Delta II and NOAA-N Prime spacecraft was successfully completed Jan. 29, with a countdown dress rehearsal conducted the following day. There are no issues or concerns to prevent final launch preparations.

One final milestone, the Launch Readiness Review, will be conducted today to assure all is ready to start the launch countdown operations tomorrow afternoon. The NOAA-N Prime polar orbiting weather satellite is enclosed in the Delta II payload fairing and is ready for launch.

The preliminary weather outlook for Feb. 4 has conditions forecast to be generally favorable for launch, but becoming less favorable the following day due to an approaching low pressure system.

[Salo]

Там же:

NOAA-N Prime Overview
Artist's concept of NOAA-N Prime in orbit.
NASA is preparing to launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's latest polar-orbiting satellite, called NOAA-N Prime. The satellite will provide an essential resource for NOAA's long-range weather and climate forecasts and improve U.S. search and rescue operations.

NOAA-N Prime is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and will be renamed NOAA-19 after achieving proper orbit.

As it orbits Earth, NOAA-N Prime will collect data about Earth's surface and atmosphere, which are vital inputs to NOAA's long-range Earth weather and climate outlooks, including forecasts for El Ni

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NOAA-N-Prime/launch/index.html

Spacecraft: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C
Launch Location: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex-2 West
Launch Date: Feb. 4, 2009
Launch Time: 5:22 - 5:32 a.m. EST

Image above: The Delta II rocket that will carry the NOAA-N Prime spacecraft is prepared at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

NOAA-N Prime Set for Launch

One final milestone prior to launch day is the Launch Readiness Review, which will be conducted today. The review assures that everything is ready for the start of the launch countdown operations tomorrow afternoon.

The preliminary weather outlook for Feb. 4 has conditions forecast to be generally favorable for launch, but becoming less favorable the following day due to an approaching low pressure system.

The Flight Readiness Review was successfully completed Jan. 29, with a countdown dress rehearsal conducted the following day. There are no issues or concerns to prevent final launch preparations. The NOAA-N Prime polar orbiting weather satellite is enclosed in the Delta II payload fairing and is ready for launch.

Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon satellite, to ensure every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. The new satellite will collect information about Earth's atmosphere and environment to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe.

The spacecraft will be launched from the Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base by a United Launch Alliance two-stage Delta II rocket. The launch will be managed by NASA's Launch Service Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

[Salo]

Получается послезавтра (4.02.2009) в 16:22-16:32 ДМВ.

[anik]

13:22 - 13:32 ДМВ. Так можно и старт пропустить...

[Salo]

:oops:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d338/090201preview.html

Back from the brink: Broken satellite now fixed and ready
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 1, 2009

A half-billion dollar climate observatory, having weathered the storied perils of its past, is finally poised for launch early Wednesday.

The NOAA-N Prime satellite is scheduled for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 2:22 a.m. PST (5:22 a.m. EST; 1022 GMT).


Spaceflight Now staff visited the satellite factory last summer and saw the rebuilt NOAA N-Prime satellite. Credit: Lockheed Martin
 
A Delta 2 rocket, boosted by three 40-inch-wide solid motors, will propel the 3,130-pound spacecraft to an altitude of 530 statute miles during a nearly 66-minute mission.

Live reports on Wednesday's ascent will be posted in our Mission Status Center.

The launch, the culmination of years of hard work for most missions, will carry a special distinction for NOAA-N Prime.

On a September day five years ago, officials received news that the satellite was damaged at its factory.

"It was a Saturday and I was sitting at home when I got a phone call from my program manager," said Gary Davis, director of the Office of Systems Development at NOAA's Satellite and Information Service.

Minds began contemplating every scenario as images of the smashed satellite spread across the Internet.

"The picture was very scary," Davis said.

The spacecraft was being titled from vertical to horizontal position when it slipped from a "turnover cart" and crashed to the floor of a processing facility at Lockheed Martin Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"We did not know the cause, and we did not know the impact at the time," Davis said. "We just knew that we stopped all work. We froze what was going on, and we got a team together over that weekend that got out to Lockheed Martin on Monday morning to start investigating the status of the spacecraft and the cause of the accident."


The NOAA-N Prime satellite after its fall to the factory floor in September 2003. Credit: NASA report
 
Engineers immediately began examining the satellite to see if it was repairable.

"There was a significant amount of damage. No two ways about it," said Jeff Vanden Beukel, program director at Lockheed Martin.

It took several months to survey the damage and inventory spare parts to make sure the satellite could be rebuilt, according to Davis.

"We put together a philosophy that, without question, if we had a spare part, we would swap it out. If we didn't have a spare part, we would attempt to fix. If we couldn't fix, then we would have to buy new," Davis said.

Because NOAA-N Prime is the final satellite in the agency's venerable polar satellite program, officials were able to use a large inventory of spares left over from earlier missions.

About 75 percent of the craft's components were replaced with new or spare hardware, Vanden Beukel said.

The satellite's support structure was reused, along with several other parts. Engineers recertified components they decided to keep on the spacecraft, officials said.

Lockheed Martin disassembled the satellite and conducted vibration and thermal tests on every part engineers planned to reuse.

"I'm confident we've got good hardware on there now," Vanden Beukel said.

The repairs cost NOAA more than $217 million, but much of that money was already budgeted for NOAA-N Prime's planned two-year storage. The satellite was slated to be completed by 2005 but was not scheduled for launch until March 2008.

"By using the money that we would have paid to keep the spacecraft in storage and keep the spacecraft launch-ready and test during that time, we were able to do the rebuild and come very close to balancing the budget," Davis said.

Lockheed Martin also forfeited a portion of their profit from the program, Davis said.

"We wanted to be cost neutral in rebuilding the satellite," said Mike Mignogno, program manager of NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellite system.

NASA, which oversees satellite acquisition, construction and launches for NOAA, established an investigation panel to determine the cause of the accident.


Investigators blamed factory workers for the factory accident. Credit: NASA report
 
The board delivered its report a year later, concluding that 24 bolts were not installed to secure the spacecraft to the turnover cart.

The report also detailed shoddy work practices at the Sunnyvale facility and indicted government agencies for their failure to detect the deficiencies.

"We made a lot of improvements with the facility, people, training people, their attitudes, everything," said Wayne McIntyre, POES project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The satellite will join NOAA's fleet of orbiting observatories that circle Earth to give forecasters information to use in medium- and long-range weather outlooks.

The POES system has provided a stream of continuous climate data since the launch of the first Television Infrared Observation Satellite in April 1960.

NOAA-N Prime is the last TIROS satellite in the nearly 50-year-old series.

The satellite's unusual name has caused many observers to ask why craft isn't named NOAA-O, the next logical step in the agency's alphabetical pre-launch naming system.

NOAA had planned to develop three more POES satellites, NOAA-O, P and Q, before more capable successors took over. But officials changed their minds after studying the costs and determined current satellites could bridge the gap.

This satellite's name was chosen to differentiate from the cancelled NOAA-O series.

The new polar-orbiting satellite system is due to begin operations in 2013.

[Чебурашка]

Пуск перенесён на завтра из-за технических проблем: SCRUB: ULA Delta II launch with NASA's NOAA-N Prime delayed

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the NASA NOAA-N Prime spacecraft was poised for launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California early Wednesday. However, problems with re-pressing stage one nitrogen - relating to a GSE solenoid - caused a scrub around 30 minutes prior to the scheduled launch time.

Engineers will attempt to correct the issue in time for a 24 hour turnaround. However, tomorrow's launch weather is deemed to be only within 20 percent of launch constraints.

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NOAA-N-Prime/launch/index.html

Spacecraft: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C
Launch Location: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex-2 West
Launch Date: Feb. 5 (No earlier than)
Launch Time: 5:22 - 5:32 a.m. EST

Launch Rescheduled
The launch of the NOAA-N Prime weather satellite was scrubbed at 2 a.m. PST Wednesday when a launch pad gaseous nitrogen pressurization system failed. This system maintains pressurization and purges to various systems of the Delta II rocket prior to launch.

The launch team will gather at mid-day Wednesday to review the facility readiness and the weather forecast for launch.

[Salo]

13:22 - 13:32 ДМВ 5.02.2009

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NOAA-N-Prime/launch/index.html

Launch Date: Feb. 6
Launch Time: 5:22 - 5:32 a.m. EST

Launch management will meet at midday on Thursday to review launch readiness for an attempt on Friday, Feb. 6 at 2:22 a.m. PST.

Live coverage will begin at 3 a.m. EST on launch day.

13:22 - 13:32 ДМВ 6.02.2009

[Чебурашка]

Сабж улетел

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NOAA-N-Prime/launch/index.html

Spacecraft: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C
Launch Location: Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex-2 West
Launch Date: Feb. 6, 2009
Launch Time: 5:22 a.m. EST

Delta II Successfully Launches NOAA-N Prime Spacecraft


Image above: The Delta II rocket carrying the NOAA-N Prime spacecraft thunders into the pre-dawn sky. Image credit: Carleton Bailie/United Launch Alliance

The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft began its mission to help monitor Earth's weather from its polar orbit by riding to space atop a Delta II rocket. The successful liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 West came at 5:22 a.m. EST on Feb. 6, 2009. An earlier attempt on Feb. 4 was scrubbed when a launch pad gaseous nitrogen pressurization system failed.

The Delta II is designed to boost medium-sized satellites and robotic explorers into space. For this launch, NASA used a two-stage rocket equipped with three strap-on solid rocket boosters.

The rocket's second-stage engine fired twice as it propelled the spacecraft toward its intended orbit. The first burn over the Pacific Ocean lasted for six minutes and 39 seconds, during which time the two halves of the payload fairing were jettisoned, exposing the spacecraft. After engine cutoff, the spacecraft entered a cruise phase that lasted 48 minutes. The second firing just off the east coast of Africa lasted for approximately 13 seconds, followed by spacecraft separation six minutes later.

[Salo]

06.02.2009 / 13:25    С Базы ВВС США "Ванденберг" стартовала РН Delta-2 с метеоспутником на борту
 
     6 февраля 2009 года в 10:22 UTC (13:22 мск) с площадки SLC-2W Базы ВВС США "Ванденберг" в Калифорнии стартовыми командами компании United Launch Alliance при поддержке боевых расчетов 30-го Космического крыла ВВС США осуществлен пуск ракеты-носителя Delta-2 (7320) с метеорологическим спутником NOAA-N Prime на борту.

     Циклограмма пуска (расчетная):

     Т+00:00:00.0 - пуск (контакт подъема)
     Т+00:04:32.7 - отделение 1-й ступени носителя
     Т+00:04:37.7 - включение двигателей 2-й ступени
     Т+00:04:56.0 - сброс головного обтекателя
     Т+00:11:16.1 - выключение двигателей 2-й ступени
     Т+00:59:21.0 - повторное включение двигателей 2-й ступени
     Т+00:59:34.3 - выключение двигателей 2-й ступени
     Т+01:05:40.0 - отделение КА от носителя.

     КА NOAA-N Prime изготовлен специалистами компании Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company и является последним метеорологическим аппаратом серии "N". Его масса 1419 кг.
     Запуск осуществлен в интересах NASA и NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration).
     Состоявшийся пуск стал 338-м стартом носителей класса Delta, вторым - в нынешнем году, 140-м запуском ракет Delta-2 с 1989 года, 8-м полетом Delta-2 в конфигурации 7320 и 35-м запуском ракеты Delta-2 с Базы ВВС США "Ванденберг".

          - К.И.

06.02.2009 / 14:29    Метеоспутник отделился от носителя

     Запущенный сегодня с Базы ВВС США "Ванденберг" метеорологический спутник NOAA-N Prime в 11:27:56 UTC (14:27:56 мск) успешно отделился от последней ступени носителя Delta-2 и вышел на околоземную орбиту. После выхода на орбиту космический аппарат получил обозначение NOAA-19.

     - К.И.  

[Имxотеп]

Согласно tle последняя ступень Дельты (объект 33592) сейчас находится на орбите 177x819 км с i=102 (на 3 градуса больше, чем у спутника). Это так и задумано или сведение с орбиты было неудачным?

[fagot]

Она всегда выписывает подобные финты, обычное сведение почему-то не делается.

[Salo]

spaceflightnow: History abounds in launch of crucial weather satellite