Quote from: the_other_Doug on 05/20/2015 03:36 pmCongrats to ULA for a good, solid, on-time launch. It's what we're beginning to expect, every time.That rocket cam was sorta weird, though. Every time they'd cut to it, it looked like the Atlas was still climbing vertically up from the launch complex. Even well after the vehicle was pitching down into its near-horizontal trajectory. Made me wonder there, for a minute, if the thing wasn't gonna keep goin' straight up... Yeah, I've seen that on other launches, like Antares for instance. But if you look, you can see the land start to foreshorten as she pitches over.
Congrats to ULA for a good, solid, on-time launch. It's what we're beginning to expect, every time.That rocket cam was sorta weird, though. Every time they'd cut to it, it looked like the Atlas was still climbing vertically up from the launch complex. Even well after the vehicle was pitching down into its near-horizontal trajectory. Made me wonder there, for a minute, if the thing wasn't gonna keep goin' straight up...
Quote from: NovaSilisko on 05/20/2015 03:22 pmQuote from: Rocket Science on 05/20/2015 03:17 pmBoeing promo of X-37 “first unmanned vehicle to return to Earth and land by itself”... That would be Buran... Was thinking the same thing. Maybe they decided Buran didn't qualify because it was designed to carry crew, whereas X-37 never was?Well, and Dragon "returns to earth and lands" as well, as have a number of BEO probes (Stardust, etc). I think they were missing the words "American" and "winged": "first American unmanned winged vehicle to return to Earth and land". The "by itself" is redundant, considering it is unmanned -- unless they are thinking of some sort of remotely-piloted drone? But I don't think that's been ever been done, so the qualification seems unnecessary.
Quote from: Rocket Science on 05/20/2015 03:17 pmBoeing promo of X-37 “first unmanned vehicle to return to Earth and land by itself”... That would be Buran... Was thinking the same thing. Maybe they decided Buran didn't qualify because it was designed to carry crew, whereas X-37 never was?
Boeing promo of X-37 “first unmanned vehicle to return to Earth and land by itself”... That would be Buran...
Jason Davis @jasonrdavis · 1m agoP-POD 8 deployment! #LightSail is in orbit!
Nice! Is the Rl-10 Engine view new? I don't recall seeing it before.
ULA Photos (they didn't give a name of who took them).
We've seen no imagery of the spacecraft's enclosure in the payload fairing (yet). Why? (I checked the "usual" web sites--did not find.)There is such imagery from within Astrotech for the 1st (and 2nd, 3rd?) flights.Also seeking confirmation (if possible)--this OTV was processed for launch within the former OPF-1 &/or -2? Is that the reason?Curious,ZubenelgenubiEDIT re: former OPFs.
Success! ULA:Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (May 20, 2015) A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the AFSPC-5 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 11:05 a.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-41. This is ULA’s fifth launch in 2015 and the 96th successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006.