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Author
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Topic: [Discuss] Orbital's Antares-Cygus demo flight
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-15-2013 07:28 PM
   
Editor's note: To keep the topic Orbital Sciences Antares-Cygus COTS demo flight focused on status updates, feedback and opinions are directed to this thread. Please use this topic to discuss Orbital Sciences' Antares-Cygnus Demonstration Flight. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 07-15-2013 07:30 PM
Sounds like a road trip to Wallops is in order. |
Linda Voss
New Member Posts:
From:
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posted 08-06-2013 02:31 AM
Wallops is testing its wings as America's newest spaceport with a busy September launch manifest. Wallops Flight Facility Launch Schedule (as of 7.23.13) | Launch Date | Time | Rocket | Suborbital/Orbital | Payload/Organization | | Aug. 13 - 14 | 6-10 AM | Terrior-Improved Malemute | Suborbital | RockSat-X/Col. Space Grant/NASA | | Sep. 6 - 10 | 11:21 - 11:39 PM | Minotaur V | Lunar | LADEE/NASA | | Sep. 14 - 19 | Mid-day | Antares | Orbital | Cygnus/Orbital Sciences | | November | Evening | Minotaur I | Orbital | ORS-3/DoD |
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DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 09-05-2013 02:10 PM
So is this the first time a flown spacecraft has been named after a US astronaut?------------------
Homesteading Space | davidhitt.net |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-05-2013 02:15 PM
Maybe... Orbital says it has named a good number of its past rockets and spacecraft for Orbital employees, so it's at least possible that they've had another vehicle named for a former astronaut. I can ask Frank Culbertson or another Orbital representative at the next briefing (the day before the launch).Update: I asked Culbertson after the launch and he couldn't recall Orbital naming another of its spacecraft after an astronaut. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 09-09-2013 09:20 AM
Will an updated time for the September 14th launch be available some time later this week? Thanks. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-09-2013 09:26 AM
As noted in the update thread, the Antares-Cygnus launch is now scheduled for 11:16 a.m. EDT on Sept. 17. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 09-11-2013 10:52 PM
Which one do they plan to name after Dan Tani? He was an Orbital employee from the days of their first Pegasus launch and rejoined them after retiring from NASA. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 475
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 09-15-2013 08:39 AM
Where would I go to watch this launch? Looking at various airports to fly in to it appears BWI, DCA, and PHL all take about the same amount of time to travel down to Wallops Island. Any travel tips (I'd be coming from South Florida)? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-15-2013 08:52 AM
Your shortest drive will be if you fly in to Norfolk, Virginia, which is about two hours outside of Wallops. Plus, you'll get the benefit of driving over/under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.I suspect NASA Wallops will announce the public viewing sites tomorrow (Monday, Sept. 16). |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-16-2013 11:02 AM
Update from NASA: At a Launch Readiness Review Monday (Sept. 16), managers for Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., and NASA gave a "go" to proceed toward the Wednesday, Sept. 18, launch of Orbital's demonstration resupply mission to the International Space Station, pending the outcome of a Wallops Range Authority to Proceed meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Orbital is targeting a 10:50 a.m. EDT launch from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 10:15 a.m.
There is a 75 percent chance of favorable weather at the time of launch. Low clouds below 6,000 feet are the primary concern for a weather violation. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-17-2013 03:29 PM
If the Antares and the Atlas V both launch tomorrow, is this the first time we have had two US launches on the same day? |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-17-2013 03:45 PM
Hardly. Just think of the Gemini/Agena missions where the rockets launched a rev or so apart.Tomorrow is probably the first time that an Atlas V and Antares will both be launched on the same day, however.  |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-17-2013 04:33 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I suspect NASA Wallops will announce the public viewing sites
Yeah, but those sites suck! Some are 10 miles away — that's farther than most shuttle viewing locations at the cape!Best to get there early, then trust your GPS and drive around. You can find spots just a bit over 2 miles away. Unfortunately, I won't be there this time, although I am planning to take the morning off and watch it at home from the top of the hill in the back yard. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-17-2013 08:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Glint:
Just think of the Gemini/Agena missions where the rockets launched a rev or so apart.
Okay, then the first time am alive to witness it. I can't believe I didn't think of those launches.
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-18-2013 09:07 AM
New targeted T-0 is 10:58 a.m. EDT (1458 GMT). The range is currently red due to low cloud conditions and "distance focus over pressure," the latter basically a threat of damaging nearby structures (homes). Both conditions are expected to be cleared later in countdown. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-18-2013 09:34 AM
Range is now green (four houses near the pad needed to be evacuated as there was a chance of window damage). Meanwhile, Antares' "rocket cam" is not working. Orbital hopes to resolve the issue and be able to stream on-board footage, but it is not critical for launch. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-18-2013 09:55 AM
Antares now switched avionics to internal batteries. All is nominal (including the "rocket cam").Update: Liftoff!  |
MarylandSpace
Member Posts: 1336
From:
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 09-18-2013 10:10 AM
Wish I was at Wallops Island today.Beautiful launch shown on NASA TV. Great camera work from the rocket after launch. |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-20-2013 01:20 PM
I saw the Antares liftoff from the back yard, 144 miles nw of the pad.I missed the 1st stage ignition. Although the sky was clear and blue there was some clouds and haze down low on the horizon. Also, the backscatter from looking towards the sun did not help. After scanning the horizon a bit with a pair of 7x50 Fujinons, I spotted the contrail left by the 1st stage. Scanning higher up revealed the rocket, very small by now, ascending on the 2nd stage's plume. Actually, I don't recall the rocket itself being visible. Just the growing and rapidly expanding comet-like plume. By this time the rocket had just about reached peak altitude above my horizon, and was beginning to level out as seen from my perspective. Overall, not as impressive as the LADEE launch less than two weeks previously. But for that launch I was also about 70 times closer, located 2.1 miles from the pad. |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-23-2013 10:55 AM
The delayed docking of Cygnus with the ISS until 09/28 at the earliest means there should be an extended opportunity for satellite observers to view both space vehicles flying in formation. What is the standoff distance that Cygnus will be maintaining from the ISS? I take it that Cygnus is trailing ISS by roughly a minute or less. Unfortunately, upcoming passes for the mid-Atlantic region here are low (i.e. distant) morning ones with Friday and Saturday mornings' being the best. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-23-2013 11:07 AM
Unfortunately, Analytical Graphics (AGI) has yet to update its Cygnus mission viewer (it is still displaying the data from a nominal mission profile), otherwise it would be easy to say how far away the Cygnus was station-keeping.However, according to the information Orbital put out, the last maneuver placed Cygnus within 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of the ISS. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 09-24-2013 07:03 AM
Looks like they still haven't updated the viewer as it still says for nominal mission as of 17 September. That would be great to see it fly over Maryland. Although the viewer would make it easier to point binoculars in the right direction. |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 09-24-2013 09:46 AM
Don't need it. If you're familiar with the cardinal directions at your location and can identify basic constellations Heavens-Above.com provides all the charts you need. There's even a special link just for ISS predictions and another for Cygnus. I would just use the former as the latter is sure to pass within a minute either way along basically the same path in the sky. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-29-2013 07:43 AM
Looks like another great success for Commercial Spaceflight! I am hoping for a second later today! |
J Blackburn
Member Posts: 224
From: Riner, Virginia USA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 09-29-2013 11:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Ronpur:
I am hoping for a second later today!
Looks like we got it! |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 09-29-2013 02:56 PM
Congratulations to all the people at Orbital who made this possible (and to the US taxpayer too). |
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