Author Topic: LIVE: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 12, 2017  (Read 153943 times)

Offline Zed_Noir

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #40 on: 10/30/2017 09:23 pm »
Attached S.S. Gene Cernan fact sheet PDF from Orbital-ATK
« Last Edit: 11/11/2017 01:13 am by Chris Bergin »

Offline deruch

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #41 on: 11/01/2017 01:42 am »
https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/OA8-Mission-Page/Documents/FS004_17_Cygnus_OA-8.pdf
Quote
Cygnus will remain berthed for approximately one month to allow the astronauts on Space Station to perform the transfer of the lab to Cygnus and then back to the station where it will remain.

What exactly is the point of this demonstration?  Cygnus remains berthed during the test, correct?  So, it's not demonstrating Cygnus as a free flying lab.  They move the lab module to Cygnus, then move it back all the while the vehicle stays berthed to the station ....  Is the ISS so hard up for lab space that they would "off load" an experiment for a month to run in Cygnus?  Seems strange.
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Offline RonM

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #42 on: 11/01/2017 02:02 am »
Need to test the Cygnus systems. One step at a time.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #43 on: 11/03/2017 01:16 pm »
Quote
Nov. 3, 2017
Antares Set for Launch Saturday, Nov. 11

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport are set to support the launch of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket at 7:37 a.m. EST, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017.

The Antares rocket will carry Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft with more than 7,000 pounds of food, clothing and experiments on the CRS-8 mission to the International Space Station.

The launch may be visible, weather permitting, to residents throughout the east coast of the United States.

Public viewing of the launch will be available at the NASA Visitor Center at Wallops and the surrounding area. Visitors are reminded that alcohol and pets are not allowed on the Visitor Center grounds. The NASA Visitor Center will open at 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 11.

For more information about the Visitors Center, including directions, see: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/visitorcenter

Live coverage of the mission is scheduled to begin at 1:15 a.m. on the Wallops Ustream site at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tv-wallops

Launch updates also are available via the Wallops Facebook and Twitter sites:

www.facebook.com/NASAWFF

www.twitter.com/NASA_Wallops

Smartphone users can download the “What’s Up at Wallops” app, which contains information on the launch as well as a compass showing the precise direction for launch viewing. The app is available for download to both Android and iOS users.

Launch coverage on NASA TV will begin at 7 a.m. EST. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Get more information about Orbital ATK, its Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbital

Keith Koehler
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/wallops/2017/antares-set-for-launch-saturday-nov-11

Second attached picture is a visibility map for the Orbital ATK's Antares Rocket CRS-8 launch.

Offline Astrofreak92

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #44 on: 11/03/2017 01:48 pm »
Need to test the Cygnus systems. One step at a time.

And what's the next step? Using Cygnus as a free-floating lab? Increasing the ISS' total lab space by having a Cygnus regularly attached and being replaced a la Progress when its 90 day orbital lifetime expires? Both? Or something else?

Offline rayleighscatter

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #45 on: 11/03/2017 02:45 pm »
Need to test the Cygnus systems. One step at a time.

And what's the next step? Using Cygnus as a free-floating lab? Increasing the ISS' total lab space by having a Cygnus regularly attached and being replaced a la Progress when its 90 day orbital lifetime expires? Both? Or something else?

Some or all of those. Tests including lower atmosphere, temperature extremes, or other experiments that aren't safe in the crewed portion. A reusable SAFFIRE setup perhaps?

Offline Space Ghost 1962

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #46 on: 11/04/2017 09:23 pm »
Part of the difficulty in utilizing the ISS is the limits on the kinds/risks of experiments it can support.

Proving that the experiment's environment is the same on ISS as on Cygnus normalizes the extension of the Cygnus environment as same.

In the microgravity case, eventually Cygnus might be able to "better" the environment beyond ISS quality/safety/isolation. While still allowing access to prime/remedy/extract results from experiments.

It's not the need for more space, its about increasing utility.

Plus, if Cygnus can operate for longer periods of time autonomously, it can have other uses.

Offline zubenelgenubi

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #47 on: 11/04/2017 10:23 pm »
Cross-post from the "Schedule of ISS flight events (part 2)" thread:
Will there be experimentation aboard in free-flying mode, rather than aboard Cygnus berthed?

mid-December - Cygnus (OA-8) with TangoLab unberthing (from Unity nadir) and releasing by SSRMS

2018
early - Cygnus (OA-8) with TangoLab capture and berthing (to Unity nadir) by SSRMS

These two items seem to suggest that Cygnus (OA-8) will be performing a freeflying experiment with TangoLab aboard (given the release in mid-Dec. and recapture and berthing in early 2018).  Where is that info coming from?  In the mission factsheet posted just above, it only mentions moving TangoLab into the Cygnus and then offloading it back into ISS while Cygnus remains berthed to the station.  No info on releasing and recapture of Cygnus, etc.

EDIT 11/6: No.  Cygnus release, no return to ISS, on December 4.
« Last Edit: 11/11/2017 12:07 pm by zubenelgenubi »
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Online catdlr

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #48 on: 11/06/2017 10:06 pm »
   November 06, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-132
NASA TV Coverage Set for Next Resupply Mission to International Space Station

NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is scheduled to launch its eighth mission to the International Space Station at 7:37 a.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 11 NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Live launch coverage will begin at 7 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

NASA TV also will air two prelaunch briefings Friday, Nov. 10. At 11 a.m. mission managers will provide an overview and status of launch operations, and at 3 p.m. scientists and researchers will discuss some of the investigations and technology demonstrations to be delivered to the station.

The Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on Orbital ATK’s upgraded Antares rocket from Pad 0A of Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, located at Wallops. Following launch on Nov. 11, NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s solar array deployment will begin at 9 a.m. and a post-launch news briefing will held at approximately 10 a.m.

Under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract, Cygnus will carry about 7,400 pounds of crew supplies and hardware to the space station, including science and research in support of dozens of research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 53 and 54.

Cygnus will carry several CubeSats that will conduct a variety of missions, from technology demonstrations of laser communication and increased data downlink rates to an investigation to study spaceflight effects on bacterial antibiotic resistance. Other experiments will advance biological monitoring aboard the station and look at various elements of plant growth in microgravity that may help inform plant cultivation strategies for future long-term space missions. The spacecraft will also transport a virtual reality camera to record a National Geographic educational special on Earth as a natural life-support system. 

Cygnus will arrive at the station on Monday, Nov. 13. Expedition 53 Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) and Randy Bresnik of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Cygnus at about 5:40 a.m. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and capture will begin at 4:15 a.m.

After Canadarm2 captures Cygnus, ground commands will be sent to guide the station’s robotic arm as it rotates and attaches the spacecraft to the bottom of the station’s Unity module. Coverage of installation will begin at 7 a.m.

Cygnus will remain at the space station until Dec. 4, when the spacecraft will depart the station and deploy several CubeSate before its fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere as it disposes of several tons of trash.

This Cygnus spacecraft is named in honor  of the former astronaut Eugene “Gene” Cernan, the last human to step foot on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission. Cernan set records for both lunar surface extravehicular activities and longest time in lunar orbit. He died in January 2017.

Learn more about Orbital ATK's mission at:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter:

http://instagram.com/iss

and

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

-end-
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Offline jacqmans

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #49 on: 11/07/2017 09:39 am »
Mission Update

November 6, 2017

Orbital ATK is scheduled to launch its OA-8 mission to the International Space Station on November 11 with the five-minute launch window opening at 7:37 a.m. EST. The S.S. Gene Cernan Cygnus will launch aboard an Antares launch vehicle for the sixth time from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The spacecraft will deliver vital supplies and scientific equipment to the station as part of Orbital ATK’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Integration and testing of the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft are complete, and spacecraft encapsulation is scheduled for later this week.
Jacques :-)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #50 on: 11/07/2017 03:21 pm »
Quote
Late cargo load of the #OA8 S.S. Gene Cernan #Cygnus was completed yesterday at @NASA_Wallops. Next up: encapsulation in #Antares fairing!

https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/927932496414683138

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #51 on: 11/08/2017 01:10 pm »
As it will come up, the temp at Wallops on Friday night/Saturday morning will be below freezing at launch time.  This is, at present, not a constraint for Antares.  The official forecast low at the pad that night is - currently - 29F before an 07:37 EST launch - at which time the temp is still predicted to be below freezing.

I asked Trina at Orbital ATK for the launch weather commit criteria.  This is the response from Kurt Eberly, VP/Antares Program Manager.

"Our ambient temperature constraint is 20F. Our capability is driven by the fact that we blow a lot of highly conditioned air into  3 areas of the vehicle that contain the Cygnus spacecraft, avionics, batteries, ordnance, and the second stage solid rocket motor, which are the temperature sensitive items on the rocket. The LOX we load into the vehicle is at roughly -295F, so a cold ambient air temperature is of no concern for most of Stage 1, in fact it just makes it easier to keep the LOX cold on its trip from the storage tank to the rocket.
 
The forecast low for Friday night is 29F, so we should be OK to launch."
« Last Edit: 11/08/2017 01:12 pm by ChrisGebhardt »

Offline Welsh Dragon

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #52 on: 11/08/2017 02:26 pm »
As it will come up, the temp at Wallops on Friday night/Saturday morning will be below freezing at launch time.  This is, at present, not a constraint for Antares.  The official forecast low at the pad that night is - currently - -2C before an 07:37 EST launch - at which time the temp is still predicted to be below freezing.

I asked Trina at Orbital ATK for the launch weather commit criteria.  This is the response from Kurt Eberly, VP/Antares Program Manager.

"Our ambient temperature constraint is -7C. Our capability is driven by the fact that we blow a lot of highly conditioned air into  3 areas of the vehicle that contain the Cygnus spacecraft, avionics, batteries, ordnance, and the second stage solid rocket motor, which are the temperature sensitive items on the rocket. The LOX we load into the vehicle is at roughly -182C, so a cold ambient air temperature is of no concern for most of Stage 1, in fact it just makes it easier to keep the LOX cold on its trip from the storage tank to the rocket.
 
The forecast low for Friday night is -2C, so we should be OK to launch."
Bolded is translated for the rest of the world.

Offline jacqmans

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #53 on: 11/08/2017 02:40 pm »
Cygnus Cargo Mission Due for Launch on Veteran’s Day
 

Orbital ATK’s eighth commercial cargo mission is set to launch to the International Space Station at 7:36 a.m. EST Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11. The Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo craft will blast off from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, with over 7,000 pounds of food, supplies and research gear.

Two astronauts will be inside the cupola commanding the Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Cygnus when it arrives Monday at 5:40 a.m. Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli will capture Cygnus, dubbed the “SS Gene Cernan”, assisted by Commander Randy Bresnik. Cygnus will deliver numerous advanced science experiments exploring a wide variety of subjects including communication and navigation, microbiology, animal biology and plant biology.

Meanwhile, the orbiting Expedition 53 crew members continued investigating biology and robotics in microgravity.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei collected and stowed saliva samples today that will be analyzed later for a study on the human immune system and metabolism. Bresnik took panoramic photographs inside the Kibo laboratory module to prepare for the upcoming Astrobee experiment. Astrobee consists of three free-flying, cube-shaped robots that will be tested for their ability to assist astronauts and ground controllers.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/11/06/cygnus-cargo-mission-due-for-launch-on-veterans-day/
Jacques :-)

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #54 on: 11/08/2017 04:07 pm »
The forecast low for Friday night is 29F, so we should be OK to launch."
The biggest issues in sub-freezing temperatures might involve the launch pad water deluge system and on-pad emergency showers, etc.

 - Ed Kyle

Given Orbital ATK's direct and detailed answer to the sub-freezing temps expected at the pad Friday night, this is not a concern for Saturday morning.

Also, there are numerous ways to prevent those sorts of issues that launch facilities located in places where it freezes understand and use (i.e. heaters).
« Last Edit: 11/08/2017 04:08 pm by ChrisGebhardt »

Offline rayleighscatter

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #55 on: 11/08/2017 08:27 pm »
Incidentally if they launch Saturday morning and it is in the upper 20's this will make it the coldest launch of an Antares so far. Right now it's ORB-1 in January 2014 with a launch temp of about 35F (1.5C)

Offline punder

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #56 on: 11/08/2017 08:53 pm »
As it will come up, the temp at Wallops on Friday night/Saturday morning will be below freezing at launch time.  This is, at present, not a constraint for Antares.  The official forecast low at the pad that night is - currently - -2C before an 07:37 EST launch - at which time the temp is still predicted to be below freezing.

I asked Trina at Orbital ATK for the launch weather commit criteria.  This is the response from Kurt Eberly, VP/Antares Program Manager.

"Our ambient temperature constraint is -7C. Our capability is driven by the fact that we blow a lot of highly conditioned air into  3 areas of the vehicle that contain the Cygnus spacecraft, avionics, batteries, ordnance, and the second stage solid rocket motor, which are the temperature sensitive items on the rocket. The LOX we load into the vehicle is at roughly -182C, so a cold ambient air temperature is of no concern for most of Stage 1, in fact it just makes it easier to keep the LOX cold on its trip from the storage tank to the rocket.
 
The forecast low for Friday night is -2C, so we should be OK to launch."
Bolded is translated for the rest of the world.

Is this the appropriate place to repeat the old joke about the two kinds of countries in the world? You know, the countries that use the metric system, and the countries that have landed men on the Moon...

 :D ;D  Sorry.

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #57 on: 11/08/2017 08:58 pm »
In the future, they could do both.
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Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #58 on: 11/09/2017 05:21 am »
Quote
#OA8 Mission Update: #Cygnus encapsulation is complete and we are prepping #Antares for roll to @VCSFA_MARS Pad 0A early tomorrow morning!

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/928425461209853953

Offline Welsh Dragon

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Re: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 11, 2017
« Reply #59 on: 11/09/2017 07:32 am »

Is this the appropriate place to repeat the old joke about the two kinds of countries in the world? You know, the countries that use the metric system, and the countries that have landed men on the Moon...

 :D ;D  Sorry.
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