Author Topic: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009  (Read 63064 times)

Offline Nick L.

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #200 on: 02/06/2009 10:22 am »
Second stage start! And shutdown! Short circularization burn.
"Now you may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it's the same old place..."

Offline cb6785

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #201 on: 02/06/2009 10:23 am »
5min to spacecraft sep.
You know, if I’d had a seat you wouldn’t still see me in this thing. - Chuck Yeager

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #202 on: 02/06/2009 10:23 am »
Rolling for one minute, prior to Spacecraft separation (in five minutes.
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #203 on: 02/06/2009 10:24 am »
0.5 degree per second yaw rate as pre-programmed.
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Offline Nick L.

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #204 on: 02/06/2009 10:25 am »
Yaw rate now 0.
"Now you may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it's the same old place..."

Offline Nick L.

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #205 on: 02/06/2009 10:27 am »
Around one minute to S/C sep.
"Now you may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it's the same old place..."

Offline cb6785

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #206 on: 02/06/2009 10:28 am »
And sep! Great flight! Congrats to everyone!
You know, if I’d had a seat you wouldn’t still see me in this thing. - Chuck Yeager

Offline Nick L.

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #207 on: 02/06/2009 10:29 am »
SPACECRAFT SEPARATION!

Congrats to everyone involved. Another great job, and a wonderful 20th birthday present for Delta II!
"Now you may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it's the same old place..."

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #208 on: 02/06/2009 10:29 am »
Spacecraft Seperation confirmed.

Congrats to ULA, NASA and Pad Rat :)

Thanks to all who helped with the coverage, especially Pad Rat with his finger on the Delta II pulse, and Ron etc, who are on the wrong timezone for this.
« Last Edit: 02/06/2009 10:30 am by Chris Bergin »
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #209 on: 02/06/2009 10:32 am »
ULA Delta II Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Successful NOAA-N Prime Launch

 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (Feb. 6, 2009) – A United Launch Alliance Delta II successfully launched the NASA NOAA-N Prime spacecraft at 2:22 a.m. PST, today. Rocketing from Space Launch Complex-2, the launch took place during the 20th year anniversary month of the first Delta II launch. The program’s first launch took place Feb. 14, 1989, from Space Launch Complex-17, Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., carrying a Global Positioning System satellite.

NOAA-N Prime, following a 65 minute flight, was deployed on its mission to improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world.  It’s the last in the current series of five polar-orbiting satellites with improved imaging and sounding capabilities.  Additionally, NOAA-N Prime carries instruments that support the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System (SARSAT), which relays emergency distress beacon information from mariners and aviators to rescue teams. Since SARSAT was established in 1982, more than 24,500 lives have been saved. 

 “We are proud to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Delta II by successfully launching this critically important spacecraft for both NASA and NOAA and we congratulate our mission partners on their success,” said Jim Sponnick, vice president, Delta Product Line. “Now with 138 successful launches, the Delta II is the proven worldwide leader of the medium class market.” 

During the past two decades, Delta II launched some of America’s most famous and successful missions.  NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, along with the Phoenix Mars Lander, were launched by Delta II. Additionally, NASA missions such as Mars Odyssey, Messenger, Dawn, GLAST, and THEMIS all began their journeys on a Delta II.  For the military, all current GPS satellites and numerous NRO missions were launched in support of national defense by Delta II.

 Delta II has also launched 43 commercial missions, the most by any U.S. launch vehicle. Building on this success, the Delta II product line currently has 12 NASA, military and commercial missions scheduled to launch through 2011.

“Everyone associated with the Delta II product line can take pride in its impressive success record and the contributions they made to scientific exploration, national defense and economic prosperity since 1989,” Sponnick said. “Our Delta II team realizes they didn’t do this alone and only succeeded due to the tremendous support from our government mission partners, suppliers and commercial customers.”

For the NOAA-N Prime mission, the spacecraft was launched on a Delta II 7320-10C configuration vehicle featuring a ULA first stage booster powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems (ATK) strap-on solid rocket motors. An Aerojet AJ10-118K engine powered the second stage. The payload was encased by a 10-foot-diameter composite payload fairing.

ULA’s next launch is the March 5 NASA Kepler mission aboard a Delta II from SLC-17. 

ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., Harlingen, Texas, San Diego, Calif., and Denver, Colo.  Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

For more information on the ULA joint venture, visit the ULA Web site at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321).

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Offline Launch Fan

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #210 on: 02/06/2009 10:36 am »
That was great! Many congratulations to all involved and special thanks to Pad Rat for his updates!

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #211 on: 02/06/2009 10:40 am »
Solar Array deployment and antenna deployment in work. End of NASA TV coverage.

Reminder. Launch video here:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=15808.0
(You need to be signed into the forum to access)
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Offline Chris Bergin

Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #212 on: 02/06/2009 12:27 pm »
Photo Cutline:

 

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the NASA NOAA-N Prime spacecraft blasts off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., at 2:22 a.m. PST.  After a 65 minute flight, the spacecraft was successfully placed in its assigned orbit signaling mission success. Photo by Carleton Bailie, United Launch Alliance
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Offline jacqmans

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #213 on: 02/06/2009 12:48 pm »
RELEASE: 09-13

NOAA-N PRIME ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
 
A new environmental satellite that will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world soared into space this morning after a picture-perfect launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA-N Prime spacecraft lifted off at 2:22 a.m. PST aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2. Approximately 65 minutes later, the spacecraft separated from the Delta II SLV.

Shortly after liftoff, flight controllers tracked the launch vehicle’s progress using real-time telemetry data relayed through NASA’s Tracking and Date Relay Satellite System. NOAA-N Prime was in a power positive mode with its solar array deployed approximately five minutes after spacecraft separation. NOAA-N Prime was renamed NOAA-19 after achieving orbit.

"NOAA-19 is in a nominal orbit with all spacecraft systems functioning properly," stated Wayne McIntyre, the NASA POES Project Manager. "The NASA/NOAA partnership continues to produce enormous results with environmental missions, now exceeding more than three decades."

NOAA-19 is the fifth in a series of five Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) with advanced microwave sounding instruments that provide imaging and sounding capabilities. 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 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.

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 is the sixteenth and last satellite in a series of polar-orbiting satellites dating back to 1978. A new generation of environmental satellites called the National Polar Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) will become operational after the POES satellites complete their mission. NPOESS is a tri-agency (NOAA, U.S. Department of Defense, NASA) program. NPOESS will provide more capable sensors for improved data collection and better weather forecasts beginning in 2013.

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.

 NOAA-N Prime integration with the Delta II, countdown and launch management is the responsibility of the NASA Launch Services Program headquartered at the Kennedy Space Center.

 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

 

Jacques :-)


Offline Ford Mustang

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #215 on: 02/06/2009 09:41 pm »
Mission: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Date: Feb. 6, 2009
Launch Time: 2:22 a.m. PST

The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the NOAA-N Prime
weather satellite launched at 2:22 a.m. PST after two consecutive
days of launch scrubs. The satellite successfully separated from the
rocket's second stage 65 minutes after launch. NOAA-N Prime now is in
its circular polar orbit about 534 miles, or 464 nautical miles,
above Earth.

Offline Yeknom-Ecaps

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #216 on: 02/18/2009 12:21 am »
I just noticed that all the write-ups show:

NOAA-N Prime

while the mission logo shows:

NOAA N-Prime

any idea why?

« Last Edit: 02/18/2009 12:22 am by Yeknom-Ecaps »

Offline jacqmans

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Re: LIVE: Delta II NOAA-N, VAFB, February 6, 2009
« Reply #217 on: 03/23/2009 04:37 pm »
Nation's Newest Advanced Polar Operational Environmental Satellite Completes On-Orbit Verification

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 23, 2009 -- The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft, the final Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) launched on Feb. 6, 2009, has completed a comprehensive 45-day on-orbit verification period. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) built NOAA-N Prime at its Space Systems Company Sunnyvale facility.

The new satellite, designated NOAA-19 when it reached orbit, is the final spacecraft in the TIROS series. All have been designed and built for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by Lockheed Martin since the first Television and Infrared Observational Satellite (TIROS) weather satellite launch in April 1960. NASA managed the spacecraft's launch and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates the satellite in space. Over many years of service, TIROS satellites have earned the reputation as the workhorses of the Civil Space Earth-imaging inventory.

"We are very pleased to learn that NOAA-19 has passed this important milestone," said Jeff Vanden Beukel, Lockheed Martin TIROS program director. "For several decades the Lockheed Martin team has been totally dedicated to providing NASA with a series of satellites that extend NOAA's ability to provide uninterrupted environmental data products to users. Working together with our NASA and NOAA partners has, and will always remain, a source of enormous pride for Lockheed Martin."

A constellation consists of one MetOp - a European meteorology satellite - and one POES satellite circling the planet in nearly north-south orbits. As the Earth rotates, the entire globe, one swath at a time rolls into view of the satellites' instruments. The satellites provide measurements of reflected solar and radiated thermal energy from land, sea, clouds and the atmosphere in the visible, microwave and infrared spectrum, atmospheric soundings of temperature and humidity, measurements of global sea surface temperature, aerosol distribution data, ozone concentration data, soil moisture data, and measurements of orbital proton and electron flux.

Additionally, POES satellites collect data from remote platforms, relay search and rescue data, and also provide direct broadcast of environmental data worldwide. Data from the spacecraft support a broad range of environmental monitoring applications including weather analysis and forecasting, climate research and prediction, ocean dynamics research, volcanic eruption monitoring and forest fire detection. Together these data comprise irreplaceable inputs to the numerical weather forecast model and are vital to medium and long-range forecasting. Separately or in combination, the data are utilized to produce sea-surface temperature maps, ice condition charts, vegetation maps and other forecasting and management tools.

The NOAA-19 spacecraft is 13.75 feet long by 6.2 feet in diameter, and weighs 3,130 pounds at liftoff. Its solar array has 180.6 square feet of surface area and generates 833 watts at a zero degree sun angle. The instruments onboard NOAA-19 were provided by NASA and NOAA, and include the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR/3), the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/4), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A), the EUMETSAT-supplied Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS), the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectral Radiometer/2 (SBUV/2), the Space Environment Monitor/2 (SEM/2) and the Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS).

In addition, NOAA-19 carries two search and rescue instruments, the Search and Rescue Repeater (SARR) and the Search and Rescue Processor (SARP) that are used internationally for locating ships, aircraft, and people in distress. The use of satellites in search and rescue has been instrumental in saving more than 24,500 lives since the inception of the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system.

Spacecraft launch site processing at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) included end-to-end testing with the Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md., final spacecraft electrical testing and spacecraft inspections. The NOAA-19 spacecraft was launched from the Western Range Space Launch Complex-2 at VAFB, by a two-stage United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C space launch vehicle.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., was responsible for the procurement, development, launch services, and verification of the spacecraft, instruments, and unique ground equipment. Following spacecraft launch, Goddard was responsible for satellite health and safety during a comprehensive on-orbit verification period that lasted 45 days. Following satellite checkout, NASA turned operational control over to NOAA. NOAA will operate the satellite from the Satellite Operations Control Center along with the nation's other environmental satellites.

The NOAA-19 satellite operates in a circular, near-polar orbit of 464 nautical miles above the Earth with an inclination angle of 98.73 degrees to the equator. Its orbital period -- the time it takes to complete one orbit of the Earth -- is approximately 102.14 minutes. The NOAA-19 orbit is Sun-synchronous, rotating eastward about the Earth's polar axis 0.968 degrees each day, approximately the same rate and direction as the Earth's average daily rotation about the sun. The rotation keeps the satellite in a constant position with reference to the sun for constant scene illumination throughout the year.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs and develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

Media Contact: Buddy Nelson, (510) 797-0349; e-mail [email protected]

Jacques :-)

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