Did anyone notice the sparks which appeared to be coming from the lightning tower nearest the camera. I was wondering whether this could indicate some form of damage to the launch facilities.
Quote from: GW_Simulations on 08/18/2008 11:11 pmDid anyone notice the sparks which appeared to be coming from the lightning tower nearest the camera. I was wondering whether this could indicate some form of damage to the launch facilities.I believe those are particles of concrete flying out of the flame trench. In past years, there wasn't as much seen. I am not sure if that is particular to Pad 39 or just the current refurb process on the flame trench.
Posted by ILS Communications Team, 8:42 p.m. EDT on 18 August 2008 The Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite. We have received confirmation that the 1st and 2nd burns of the upper stage occurred and shut down as scheduled.
I believe that the 3rd burn should have been completed by now (10:43 pm EDT).
We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its 3rd & 4th burns, as well as jettisoning its additional propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 5th burn is scheduled for around 3:35 a.m. Eastern time, or 7:25 GMT. Separation of the Inmarsat 4 spacecraft is scheduled to follow that by about 16 minutes.
Does anyone know where the 3rd stage impacts during such missions?
Quote from: PDJennings on 08/18/2008 11:16 pmQuote from: GW_Simulations on 08/18/2008 11:11 pmDid anyone notice the sparks which appeared to be coming from the lightning tower nearest the camera. I was wondering whether this could indicate some form of damage to the launch facilities.I believe those are particles of concrete flying out of the flame trench. In past years, there wasn't as much seen. I am not sure if that is particular to Pad 39 or just the current refurb process on the flame trench.We're halfway across the world for this one.
I realize this is proprietary info but I'm curious what's the $$$ range for the cost to the customer of a commsat like this? Just the sat hardware itself without ground ops/insurance/launch. Any pointers?