Author Topic: Atlas V 401 - InSight, Mars Cube One Vandenberg- LC-3E - May 5, 2018  (Read 106514 times)

Online Targeteer

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NSF Articles on InSight:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/?s=Insight

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http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123464211

Atlas V booster lands at Vandenberg

by Airman 1st Class Robert J. Volio
30th Space Wing Public Affairs

11/25/2015 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A cargo aircraft carrying an Atlas-V booster recently arrived here, Nov. 20.

The Antonov AN-124, one of the largest aircraft in the world, made its way from a production facility in Huntsville, Ala. to deliver the booster.

"The Antonov flew from Zurich, Switzerland to Mansfield, Ohio, and then to Huntsville, Ala.," said 1st Lt. Hammad Ghazali, 4th Space Launch Squadron mission manager. "From there, the Atlas booster was loaded onto the aircraft and flown directly to Vandenberg."

Due to the large size of rocket components, transportation can pose unique challenges.

The vehicles with the transportation muscle to accomplish this task include the Antonov - the Delta Mariner, a large cargo vessel used to transport rocket components by sea - and air ride tractor trailers, vehicles made to handle large, fragile shipments.

The Delta IV rocket is delivered by the Delta Mariner due to its massive size inhibiting other forms of travel.

"The Atlas V and Delta IV boosters can be transported via the Delta Mariner," said Ghazali. "This large ship is capable of carrying up to three boosters from the production site in Alabama to either Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Vandenberg."

Various personnel were on hand to carefully orchestrate and coordinate the successful arrival and unique transportation of the rocket booster.

"An operation of this magnitude requires extensive training, coordination and teamwork," said Lt. Col. Eric Zarybnisky, 4th SLS commander. "Members across Team Vandenberg, along with United Launch Alliance and other mission partners, helped make it all happen. The 30th Operations Support Squadron airfield operations team ensured the aircraft's successful arrival, offload and departure. The 30th Logistics Readiness Squadron and 30th Security Forces Squadron teams supported the transportation convoy from the airfield to building 7525. The combined cohesion of ULA, 4th SLS and 30th Space Wing Safety ensured the booster offload went smoothly - ensuring mission success. Numerous others across Team V provided the infrastructure and support necessary to make this operation a successful one."

Despite arriving via flight to Vandenberg, the booster's original transportation method involved another option.

"The Atlas booster was originally built in Denver, Colo. before production moved to Decatur, Ala.," said Ghazali. "Getting the first stage from Denver to Vandenberg wasn't feasible via truck so the booster was designed to be flown to the launch location. Flying the booster to the launch location minimizes the transport time and avoids hazards that the booster structure would be exposed to over land."

Consisting of a multitude of features, the Atlas booster is a pivotal piece of the space mission puzzle.

"The Atlas-V booster provides space lift for critical spacecraft, including defense satellites, NASA scientific missions, and commercial satellites," said Zarybnisky. "The boosters carry the bulk of the fuel required to produce the thrust necessary to launch these satellites into the desired orbits. The orbits we launch to, from Vandenberg, are unique and provide our launch customers the ability to perform missions they could not accomplish if they launched from Cape Canaveral."

With the booster's successful arrival, day-to-day launch operations remain intact - ensuring mission success at Vandenberg.

"Launch vehicle processing has very tight timelines," said Zarybnisky. "Delays in a single operation can have large ripple effects across the process. By ensuring a smooth delivery, we can prevent schedule compression that induces additional risk into launch vehicle processing."
« Last Edit: 04/09/2018 01:06 pm by Chris Bergin »
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

Offline arachnitect

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I believe this is the booster for this launch based on the timeline.  The question is, why was this booster delivered by air (or by a C-5 instead), and not by sea?  Anyone else see the irony in a RD-180 powered booster being delivered by an AN-124 to a US Air Force base? 

Not the first time the AN-124 has been used. Won't be the last either.

Probably a lot cheaper than sending the boat all the way around. Next west coast D-IV is already out there.

Offline Newton_V

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I believe this is the booster for this launch based on the timeline.  The question is, why was this booster delivered by air (or by a C-5 instead), and not by sea?  Anyone else see the irony in a RD-180 powered booster being delivered by an AN-124 to a US Air Force base? 

Not the first time the AN-124 has been used. Won't be the last either.

Probably a lot cheaper than sending the boat all the way around. Next west coast D-IV is already out there.

Yeah, it's not uncommon for the VAFB Atlas V boosters to get flown out.  AV-051 booster was flown out as well.
C-5's haven't been used for a long time.  Maybe never for Atlas V, I can't recall.  Half the fleet is retired (C-5As), half of the other half is always in some overhaul or upgrade program.

Offline Zed_Noir

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Is the Atlas V too big to be transport by road like the Falcon 9?

Offline edkyle99

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Is the Atlas V too big to be transport by road like the Falcon 9?
CCB is shorter and skinnier than a Falcon 9 first stage, so there's no reason it could not be done unless there are highway obstructions on the routes.  EDIT:  It is six inches wider, so I'm not sure if road transport is possible.  It seems close.

Air or water transport has long been the standard procedure for U.S. launch vehicle stages.  The original Atlas/Titan/Thor/Jupiter stages were missiles that were required to be air-transportable.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 11/27/2015 12:28 am by edkyle99 »

Offline baldusi

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Is the Atlas V too big to be transport by road like the Falcon 9?
CCB is shorter and skinnier than a Falcon 9 first stage, so there's no reason it could not be done unless there are highway obstructions on the routes.

Air or water transport has long been the standard procedure for U.S. launch vehicle stages.  The original Atlas/Titan/Thor/Jupiter stages were missiles that were required to be air-transportable.

 - Ed Kyle
Atlas V core is 3.81m, which is wider than the F9 (just 15cm or so). But the true question is if it was designed for read transport. The F9 core doesn't rest the whole length over a transport, so it sort of carries itself. I haven't seen this arrangement for the Atlas V cores, specially for the rigors of a cross country road trip.

Online John-H

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Then the F9 is <exactly> 12 feet in diameter, which is the usual legal US road limit. Atlas is just above this.

John

Offline edkyle99

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Is the Atlas V too big to be transport by road like the Falcon 9?
CCB is shorter and skinnier than a Falcon 9 first stage, so there's no reason it could not be done unless there are highway obstructions on the routes.

Air or water transport has long been the standard procedure for U.S. launch vehicle stages.  The original Atlas/Titan/Thor/Jupiter stages were missiles that were required to be air-transportable.

 - Ed Kyle
Atlas V core is 3.81m, which is wider than the F9 (just 15cm or so). But the true question is if it was designed for read transport. The F9 core doesn't rest the whole length over a transport, so it sort of carries itself. I haven't seen this arrangement for the Atlas V cores, specially for the rigors of a cross country road trip.
Ooops, I got that wrong (thinking about the Antares diameter probably).  Falcon 9 is 144 inches diameter.  Atlas 5 CCB appears to be 150 inches diameter.

 - Ed Kyle

Online jacqmans

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Jacques :-)

Offline ethan829

Now NET March 18:


https://twitter.com/alexwitze/status/676864559609610240
Quote
Jim Green: InSight will not launch before March 18. (Also said launch window pushes into April.) #AGU15

Online Chris Bergin

Next Stop: Mars – Lockheed Martin Delivers NASA’s InSight Spacecraft to Launch Site

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2015/december/insight-space-mars-delivered.html - with photo.

Next Mission to Mars Working Toward a March Launch

                                                                     
Caption: Lockheed Martin delivered NASA’s InSight spacecraft to its California launch site on Dec. 15, 2015. The Mars lander was shipped aboard a U.S. Air Force transport plane from Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado to Vandenberg Air Force Base where it will undergo final processing in preparation for a March launch. Photo credit: Lockheed Martin [high-res images link]


DENVER, Dec. 17, 2015 – NASA’s latest mission to Mars took its next step on its long journey to the Red Planet. On Dec. 16, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) delivered NASA’s InSight spacecraft to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The lander will now undergo final processing in preparation for a March launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket.

The InSight lander will study the deep interior of Mars and will address one of the most fundamental questions of planetary and solar system science: how did the planets form? The mission will help scientists understand the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system more than four billion years ago. Lockheed Martin designed and built the spacecraft and is responsible for testing, launch processing and mission operations.

InSight was previously scheduled to ship to California in early January, but delivery was moved three and a half weeks early to provide more time at the launch site for the integration of the seismometer instrument (SEIS) developed by the French Space Agency, CNES.

“We’ve worked closely with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and build an amazing spacecraft, one that is based on our Mars Phoenix design that successfully landed on Mars in 2008,” said Stu Spath, InSight program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “The spacecraft and its environmental testing are complete, and now the launch team is moving to California to perform final preparations for a March launch.”

The 1,380-pound spacecraft, consisting of the lander, aeroshell and cruise stage, was shipped aboard a U.S. Air Force transport plane in an environmentally controlled container. The plane, spacecraft and support personnel took off from Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado and touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base. While at Vandenberg at the Astrotech Space Operations facility, the spacecraft will undergo final processing including the installation and testing of the SEIS instrument, system-level checkout, propellant loading and a spin balance test.

The InSight mission is led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Bruce Banerdt. The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France's space agency, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are each contributing a science instrument to the two-year scientific mission. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
« Last Edit: 12/18/2015 08:51 am by jacqmans »
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Online Targeteer

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http://mars.nasa.gov/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1878

NASA's next Mars spacecraft has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for final preparations before a launch scheduled in March 2016 and a landing on Mars six months later.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built and tested the spacecraft and delivered it on Dec. 16 from Buckley Air Force Base in Denver to Vandenberg, on the central California Coast.

Preparations are on a tight schedule for launch during the period March 4 through March 30. The work ahead includes installation and testing of one of the mission's key science instruments, its seismometer, which is scheduled for delivery to Vandenberg in January.

"InSight has traveled the first leg of its journey, getting from Colorado to California, and we're on track to start the next leg, to Mars, with a launch in March," said InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

The seismometer, provided by France's national space agency (CNES), includes a vacuum container around its three main sensors. Maintaining the vacuum is necessary for the instrument's extremely high sensitivity; the seismometer is capable of measuring ground motions as small as the width of an atom. A vacuum leak detected during testing of the seismometer was repaired last week in France and is undergoing further testing.

InSight's heat-probe instrument from Germany's space agency (DLR), the lander's robotic arm and the rest of the payload are already installed on the spacecraft.

InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport, is the first Mars mission dedicated to studying the deep interior of the Red Planet. This Mars lander's findings will advance understanding about the formation and evolution of all rocky planets, including Earth.

One of the newest additions installed on the InSight lander is a microchip bearing the names of about 827,000 people worldwide who participated in an online "send your name to Mars" activity in August and September 2015.

InSight will be the first mission to Mars ever launched from California. The mission is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.


For more information about InSight, visit:

http://insight.jpl.nasa.gov
« Last Edit: 12/17/2015 10:35 pm by Targeteer »
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

Offline Jakusb

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Is this (bad) news? Or already known?:
Heads up @elakdawalla the @NASAInSight delay is "true"

https://twitter.com/nasawatch/status/679353284864442368
« Last Edit: 12/22/2015 04:46 pm by Jakusb »

Offline zubenelgenubi

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Breaking news about the possible delay of the launch of InSight to the next Mars launch window is (primarily) going on in The InSight Mission to Mars General Thread.
« Last Edit: 12/22/2015 05:11 pm by zubenelgenubi »
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Offline Lars-J

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Now that InSight has been delayed until the next window, 2 years from now(?) - what will happen with the Atlas V? It is already at VAFB, so will it be used for the next flight after that, or put in storage?

Online ugordan

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Ugh....

Quote
Q from @erichand: Will you launch in 26 mos, or will you have to cancel? Grunsfeld: as a cost-capped mission, cancellation is on the table.

https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/679403845240283136

Offline Star One

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Ugh....

Quote
Q from @erichand: Will you launch in 26 mos, or will you have to cancel? Grunsfeld: as a cost-capped mission, cancellation is on the table.

https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/679403845240283136

Especially considering the missions it was chosen over & if it does impact forthcoming Discovery missions.

Offline Kim Keller

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Now that InSight has been delayed until the next window, 2 years from now(?) - what will happen with the Atlas V? It is already at VAFB, so will it be used for the next flight after that, or put in storage?

That has not been decided yet, but is definitely being actively worked by ULA.

I'm really bummed by the delay - I ws the prime NASA electrical engineer assigned to it and it would've been my first visit to VAFB in over a year and a half. I'm tired of my cubicle in the O&C!

Offline Newton_V

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Now that InSight has been delayed until the next window, 2 years from now(?) - what will happen with the Atlas V? It is already at VAFB, so will it be used for the next flight after that, or put in storage?

It's a little tricky as the next Atlas V (IIF-12) is the first with common avionics (multiple cut-ins), and there are only a couple vehicles left with Block II avionics.  One of those at ER is definitely staying on that LV.

"Most" of the avionics with the upgrade in on the upper stage, but not all of it.

Offline Prober

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Some disturbing info from an article


http://www.space.com/31890-nasa-mars-insight-lander-fate.html


They basically are talking cancellation for money reasons?





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