Author Topic: LIVE: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 12, 2017  (Read 153950 times)

Offline Sam Ho

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LIVE: Cygnus OA-8 - Antares - November 12, 2017
« on: 03/18/2017 02:20 am »
Orbital ATK Antares Stands Ready to Support Eighth CRS Mission for NASA

As we prepare to launch the Cygnus OA-7 mission next week from Kennedy Space Center, Orbital ATK’s Antares team at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is making great progress on the company's eighth Cargo Resupply Mission (known as OA-8) to the International Space Station. The team plans to have Antares fully integrated and ready for the Cygnus payload by May.

“We are working a steady cadence at our home port in Wallops,” said Kurt Eberly, Antares Deputy Program Manager for Orbital ATK. “Our plan is to be ready in advance of when NASA needs us to fly.”

This week the team installed the aft bay over the fully integrated RD-181 engines on the first stage core. This milestone marks the completion of successful installation of all feed lines and completion of leak checks between the first stage core propellant tanks and the engines. The team has also completed all of the electrical system checks of the first stage.

In parallel, the large second stage Castor 30XL motor supplied by our Propulsion Systems Division in Utah has been going through mechanical integration including motor cone and avionics structure installations.

The Antares avionics structure is built and tested by the Orbital ATK team in Chandler, Arizona, then shipped to Wallops for integration. The avionics structure is fully populated with the components that control Antares during flight including the navigator, flight computer and telemetry systems.

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OA-8 Fun Fact

The OA-8 mission will carry 3350kg of cargo to the space station onboard a Cygnus spacecraft. This will be the largest amount of cargo to be carried on an Antares mission to date and is the equivalent of sending more than three classrooms or 105 fifth graders to space!

“This program combines the best capabilities of our merged company with our propulsion and launch vehicles teams,” said Eberly. “For this mission we are really seeing the smooth operations that come from having a combined team of expertise that makes Orbital ATK.”

In May, the team will mate the first and second stage, complete flight simulation testing and then lift and transer the fully-assembled vehicle onto the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL) where it will be ready for the Cygnus mate. The Antares team will be ready to launch OA-8 as early as this summer, and OA-9 as early as the end of this year. The specific launch dates for these missions will be selected jointly with NASA as we get closer to these time frames. Once OA-8 is complete, the Antares team will begin integrating the OA-9 vehicle.

“The goal of the program is to achieve an efficient, steady integration flow for the next set of Antares launches. Our Lanch Vehicles Division program personnel at Chandler and Dulles along with our Propulsion Systems Division motor team in Utah are critical to making sure that the fully integrated hardware assemblies and released software are delivered on time and in the right configuration to our field site to enable our operations team to execute the planned schedule activities each and every day,” said Eberly. “So a big thank you to everyone that supports the Antares program!”

Along with the vehicle integrations, Virginia Space has fully completed the pad readiness after the OA-5 flight last fall.

“Virginia Space is ready to support the upcoming missions, OA-8 and OA-9 from MARS,” said Dale Nash, Virginia Space Executive Director. “We look forward to getting Antares on the pad and ready to take cargo to the crews aboard the space station."

http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/insideOA/Antares_OA-8/default.aspx
« Last Edit: 11/12/2017 11:33 am by input~2 »

Offline mainmind

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - Summer 2017
« Reply #1 on: 03/29/2017 06:48 pm »
Is that a fueled Castor second stage in the second image? I would have expected solid motors to be handled separately from the liquid stages until stacking pre-launch. This isn't the case for Antares?

Offline Jim

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - Summer 2017
« Reply #2 on: 03/29/2017 07:28 pm »
avionics and such have to be installed.

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - Summer 2017
« Reply #3 on: 04/03/2017 08:31 pm »
Is that a fueled Castor second stage in the second image? I would have expected solid motors to be handled separately from the liquid stages until stacking pre-launch. This isn't the case for Antares?

Yes that is a fueled motor.

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: Antares - OA-8 - Summer 2017
« Reply #4 on: 06/11/2017 12:03 pm »
Article by Chris Gebhardt covering EOM for OA-7 but also looking forwards to this mission:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/oa-7-cygnus-eom-oa-8-sept-launch/
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Offline ethan829

Re: Antares - OA-8 - Summer 2017
« Reply #5 on: 06/12/2017 02:09 pm »
NASA TV Wallops is airing an update this morning:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tv-wallops

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We’re very proud of the capabilities that our engineers have built into #Antares & #Cygnus - Frank Culbertson, Space Systems Group President
https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874267222079942656[/size]

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We currently have 6 CRS-2 launches scheduled, all on our #Antares rockets - Culbertson
https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874267433015574528[/size]

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The OA-8 Mission is planned for September, but we are ready for #Cygnus whenever NASA needs it - Kurt Eberly, VP Orbital ATK #Antares
https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874267835446550528[/size]

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Culbertson: could launch OA-9 as soon as November, if NASA wants to go again that soon. OA-8 could be ready as early as late July if needed.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/874273004578013184

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Targeted launch date for OA-8 is September 12, but we are ready to go earlier depending on needs of @NASA and @Space_Station - Culbertson
https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874272353005576192

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Culbertson: planning to carry 3,350 kg of cargo on both OA-8 and OA-9.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/874273560323383296
« Last Edit: 06/12/2017 02:43 pm by ethan829 »

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #6 on: 06/12/2017 03:29 pm »
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Orbital ATK‏ Verified account @OrbitalATK 1m1 minute ago

The OA-8 #Antares rocket is fully assembled and awaiting integration with #Cygnus at @NASA_Wallops

https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874286848314683393

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #7 on: 06/12/2017 03:44 pm »
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Orbital ATK‏ Verified account @OrbitalATK 6m6 minutes ago

#Antares 230 engines stand ready to support the OA-8 mission

https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/874289528684638209

Offline ZachS09

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #8 on: 06/12/2017 07:01 pm »
When will Orbital ATK use the core that was test-fired in May 2016?
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Offline rayleighscatter

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #9 on: 06/12/2017 08:34 pm »
When will Orbital ATK use the core that was test-fired in May 2016?
I think that was expected to be used for OA-9

Offline ZachS09

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #10 on: 06/12/2017 10:43 pm »
When will Orbital ATK use the core that was test-fired in May 2016?
I think that was expected to be used for OA-9

How certain are you?
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Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #11 on: 06/13/2017 05:33 am »
When will Orbital ATK use the core that was test-fired in May 2016?
I think that was expected to be used for OA-9

How certain are you?
Per Investor Relations info the use of that Core for OA-9 is certain baring any issues.

Offline Olaf

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #12 on: 06/13/2017 11:13 am »
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/874554667019141120
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@NanoRacks' Manber says co to buy/launch 2.8kg, 2u @AsgardiaSpace sat from @NearSpaceLaunch; launch on Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo this fall.

Offline smfarmer11

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #13 on: 06/28/2017 02:06 pm »
The pressurized cargo module arrived at wallops this week to begin processing.

Offline wakka

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #14 on: 07/19/2017 12:52 pm »
Launch delayed  from Sept. 12 to Oct. 11.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - September 2017
« Reply #15 on: 07/20/2017 06:43 am »
Launch delayed  from Sept. 12 to Oct. 11.

That date also reported by Spaceflight Now.

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
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Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - October 2017
« Reply #16 on: 07/24/2017 03:35 pm »
And reported here by NASA:

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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 3m3 minutes ago

Schedule of upcoming ISS launches/landings from Sam Scimemi’s talk at the NAC HEO committee meeting. One change: SpX-12 now Aug. 14, not 12.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/889508454431326209

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - October 11 2017
« Reply #17 on: 08/03/2017 01:47 pm »
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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 11m11 minutes ago

Orbital ATK’s David Thompson says next Cygnus/Antares launch now likely in October. Schedule paced by a spare part NASA wants to fly on it.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/893103231508910084

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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 10m10 minutes ago
Replying to @jeff_foust

Thompson, in an earnings call this morning, said that means that next mission after this will slip to early 2018.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/893103479413256192

Offline Olaf

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - October 11 2017
« Reply #18 on: 08/07/2017 06:04 pm »
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/894604294321721344
ELaNa XIII has switched to this mission with 2 cubes.

Offline Olaf

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Re: Antares - OA-8 - October 11 2017
« Reply #19 on: 08/11/2017 06:39 am »
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/894604294321721344
ELaNa XIII has switched to this mission with 2 cubes.
https://www.nasa.gov/content/upcoming-elana-cubesat-launches
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ELaNa XIII
Date:  NET Oct 11, 2017
Mission:  OA-8/OA-8E – Antares, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
2 CubeSat Missions scheduled to be deployed
ISARA – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
EcAMSat – NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California

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