GOES 14 (O) – Delta IV-M+(4,2) – Canaveral – 28.06.09 22:51 UTC

[us2-star]

Но какие же все "4-ки" закопчёные улетают.. ужась..  :roll:

[Salo]

Видео пуска:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu0rPmIoJiU&feature=player_embedded

[us2-star]

Спасибо Salo, классное видео! я то-правда видел.. но блин.. что-ж она так закоптилась за секунды (а то и меньше..)
я не знаю почему.. :roll: но мння что-то это заинтересовало.. Первая "4Н" сразу вспомнилась.. но та - еле отрывалась.. а эта-то - шустро..  

[Salo]

Посмотрите первые секунды старта. Весь низ ракеты в пылающем облаке водорода.

[us2-star]

"4Н" помню секунды 3-4 висела.. но эта-то быстро..
(Где-то что-то подобное же уже обсуждалось.. (
Я очень извиняюсь перед многоуважаемым форумом за свой склероз..( , но что коптит у водорода в реакции с кислородом? )
Краска обгарает? так зачем тогда ракету красить..?
Пойду-ка я еще посмотрю разные "водородные" старты..

[Salo]

Это не краска. Это пенополиуретановая термоизоляция.

[Salo]

Ещё фото пуска:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d342/launch/

[TestPilot]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d342/

Delta 4 deploys an advanced weather observatory
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
Posted: June 27, 2009
 
Running a day late because of stormy weather, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket boosted a new GOES weather satellite into space Saturday to serve as an orbital spare for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fleet of hurricane-tracking weather sentinels.


The Delta 4 rocket launches from Complex 37. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
 
The Delta 4, equipped with two strap-on solid-fuel boosters, ignited with a rush of flame and smoke at 6:51 p.m. EDT and quickly climbed away from launch complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, arcing to the east and accelerating toward orbit.

"Three, two, one and liftoff of the Delta 4 rocket with GOES-O, enhancing quality and reliability of the weather satellite for the forecaster," said NASA launch commentator George DIller.

It was the 10th flight of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket since 2002 and the second of three launchings planned for this year.

A launch attempt Friday was called off because of thunderstorms and electrical activity near the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. More of the same was on tap today and forecasters initially predicted a 70 percent chance of a launch delay.

Thunderstorms rolled over the launch pad during fueling but conditions improved as the afternoon wore on and after a 37-minute delay to allow a storm cell to move past to the south, United Launch Alliance proceeded with the countdown.

The Delta 4's first stage performed normally, boosting the vehicle to an altitude of about 90 miles before falling away four-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.

The rocket's second stage then lofted the spacecraft into an initial parking orbit before two additional firings needed to place the 7,000-pound GOES-O satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit with a high point of about 21,800 miles and a low point of 4,100 miles.

Spacecraft separation occurred as planned four hours and 21 minutes after launch.

On-board thrusters will be used to put the satellite in its final circular orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. That milestone is expected July 8 and if all goes well, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn the satellite over to the government on July 18.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system provides the hemispheric views familiar from television weathercasts. Observations of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast are provided by the GOES-12 satellite - critical for hurricane tracking - with GOES-11 providing similar coverage of the the West Coast and the central Pacific Ocean past Hawaii.

GOES-O will be known as GOES-14 once on station, joining the GOES-13 satellite, launched three years ago, as an orbital spare.

"GOES-O will provide another important operational asset to NOAA and will become part of the nation's infrastructure for both weather and environmental forecasting," said Steve Kirkner, GOES project manager at NASA.


This illustration depicts the GOES spacecraft. Credit: Boeing
 
 
The latest GOES satellites feature an imaging system and a sounder that collects atmospheric data needed to predict surface and cloud-top temperatures, moisture content and ozone distribution. The imagers produce higher resolution pictures than earlier models, allowing forecasters to more accurately track small-scale features.

"The things we're looking for, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms are very small in scale," said Joe Schaefer, director of NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. "The increased resolution and accuracy that these satellites will present will help us pinpoint what's happening, and if we know what's happening, we can do a better job of making short-term and long-term forecasts of where it's going to be."

Along with saving lives, improved resolution can lower costs as well.

"There's an old rule of thumb that if we can evacuate fewer people for a hurricane, for every mile we don't have to evacuate that saves you a million dollars on average," said Tom Wrublewski, technical acquisitions manager for the GOES project. "That translates into savings for you and I ... and being able to know where tornados and other storms are."

Like all recent GOES satellites, the two newest models also include space environment sensors to measure energetic particles blown off by the sun, to monitor Earth's geomagnetic field and to look for X-ray and ultraviolet emissions from powerful solar flares that can disrupt communications.

"GOES-O is going to better ensure that we have continuous coverage in the decade ahead, it's going to improve our imaging, atmospheric sounding, and our near-Earth space weather environmental measurements that are essential to accurate weather and solar forecasts," said Wrublewski.

Along with improve hurricane tracking and forecasting, the new satellites will provide "clearer cloud top and wind products and also better detection of aerosols."

"We'll be better able to watch where those volcanic plumes are going and that is very important to airline pilots not to foul their engines," he said.

Engineers will check out the new satellite and calibrate its instruments over the next two months to make sure the spacecraft is functioning normally. The first visible-light full-disk image of the Earth is expected around July 28 and an X-ray instrument that will monitor solar flares will send down its initial test image Aug. 6.

Once checkout is complete, the satellite will go into storage mode near GOES 13 to await call up as needed. Projections indicate GOES-12 will begin running into fuel-shortage issues late this year, followed by similar issues with GOES-11. The new satellites have a 10-year design life.

"We don't really know when we're going to need it," said Marty Davis, an advisor to the GOES project. "We know the two operational satellites that are up there now are not perfect and are becoming less perfect as time goes on. So the next one to be operational will be GOES-13, which was launched three years ago. We don't think we'll have two spares for very long. The prediction is GOES-13 will be made operational by the end of the year."

Так долго рассказывать какой хороший новый спутник, новые инструменты, более высокое разрешение, возможность спасать много жизней и экономить миллионы баксов...
А в конце заявить, мол мы пока не будем его использовать, а задвинем на запасную орбиту, и на подобной орбите уже висит тоже новый(уже относительно) подобный спутник который не используется более 3х лет. А сами, как и раньше, будем старьем пользоваться...

[Ярослав]

а слабо перейти на новый спутник, а старый перепродать "развивающимся странам" ?

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d342/status.html

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009
The nation's new weather observatory successfully completed a series of altitude raising maneuvers to reach geostationary orbit early Wednesday, just 10 days after its launch from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta 4 rocket.

The craft is the latest weather satellite designed to fly 22,300 miles above the planet and constantly track conditions for meteorologists from orbital vantage points over the eastern and western sides of the Americas.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite was built and launched under the name of GOES O. But following NOAA tradition of renaming its satellites upon reaching orbit, the craft became GOES 14 on Wednesday morning.

Some five firings of the satellite's liquid-fueled engine circularized the orbit after being deployed by the Delta 4 rocket in an elliptical transfer orbit. The craft's current position is above the equator at 89.5 degrees West longitude.

The power-generating solar array will be unfurled Thursday. Handover of control from satellite-maker Boeing to NASA is scheduled in the coming days.

The space agency plans months of instrument activation work and extensive testing that's expected to last through December. If all goes well, GOES 14 will be given to NOAA for use in the network of weather-watching satellites.

"Reliable satellite coverage helps us see severe weather as it develops," said Mary E. Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "With more than a thousand tornadoes touching down in the United States each year, and hurricanes a serious risk to residents along the Gulf and East coastlines, it's critical (GOES 14) is in orbit and ready when needed."

"The imagery and data we get from GOES is key to our ability to continuously monitor and diagnose weather in the tropics," said Bill Read, director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami. "Continued improvements in the type and quality of GOES data will contribute to improvements in tropical cyclone forecasts."

[интересующийся]

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=999

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 17, 2009 -- Boeing [NYSE] today announced that GOES-14 (formerly GOES-O), the second satellite in a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites built by Boeing for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has completed on-orbit testing and been accepted into service. NOAA will use GOES-14 to accurately predict storms and monitor weather conditions across approximately 60 percent of the planet, including the United States.

"Since the launch of our first GOES weather satellite in 1980, Boeing has provided a combined 35 years of on-orbit service to meteorologists who rely on the GOES satellites for crucial weather information," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "The acceptance of GOES-14 is another example of our collaboration with NASA and NOAA to ensure that we continue to deliver the advanced capabilities that they require."

Boeing and NASA conducted approximately five months of on-orbit testing on GOES-14 from the NOAA Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md., after the satellite's June 27 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. GOES-14 successfully completed a series of postlaunch milestones, including launch and orbit-raising data reviews, a contingency operations readiness review, and testing and verification of the instruments and communications services.

GOES-14 now joins GOES-13 (formerly GOES-N) as a backup satellite for the two-satellite GOES constellation. The two spacecraft are ready to become NOAA's primary operational satellites. NOAA's current plans call for GOES-13 to become the operational east satellite during spring 2010 and begin providing critical data for the next hurricane season.

On Dec. 16, Boeing shipped the third satellite in the GOES N-P series, GOES-P, from the company's satellite integration and test complex in El Segundo to Cape Canaveral, where it will undergo final preparations for launch early next year. GOES-P will be launched aboard a Delta IV rocket procured from United Launch Alliance through Boeing's commercial launch business, Boeing Launch Services. The launch is planned for Feb. 25 from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37.

The GOES N-P series of satellites supports more accurate prediction and tracking of severe storms and other weather phenomena, resulting in earlier and more precise warnings to the public. Like their predecessors, GOES N-P will support NOAA and NASA scientists collecting and analyzing real-time environmental data, as well as rescuers responding to calls for help through a communication subsystem that includes a search-and-rescue capability to detect distress signals from land, sea and air.