Quick question will orbital be doing any sort of webcast or will the only coverage be NASA TV?
Will there be cameras on the rocket's first and second stages? Will there be live views from the rocket during the launch?
Quote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 04/17/2013 01:13 pmWill there be cameras on the rocket's first and second stages? Will there be live views from the rocket during the launch?According to Orbital, there are cameras on the first stage (looking down), and on the second stage (for stage and fairing separation). The first stage view will be available live but as the second stage events will be after Antares flies past the horizon, they will downlink those feeds later, after the second stage is in space.
Orbital Sciences @OrbitalSciences Launch prep at #NASA_Wallops continues. The #Antares vehicle team completed final arming and close out activities last night at 9 PM EDT.
@OrbitalSciences: The launch team will arrive on console at approximately 8:45 AM. The count will pick up at 9 AM with an anticipated T-0 of 5 PM EDT.
Does the completion of close out activities mean that the remaining activities are all of the button-pushing type rather than the wrench-turning type? What's left to do today before launch?
Ben Cooper @LaunchPhoto For the record, once O2 tanking were to begin, launch window reduced to 15 minutes. #Antares
Quote from: collectSPACE on 04/17/2013 01:19 pmQuote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 04/17/2013 01:13 pmWill there be cameras on the rocket's first and second stages? Will there be live views from the rocket during the launch?According to Orbital, there are cameras on the first stage (looking down), and on the second stage (for stage and fairing separation). The first stage view will be available live but as the second stage events will be after Antares flies past the horizon, they will downlink those feeds later, after the second stage is in space.A good time to remind ourselves not to be surprised when the second stage doesn't ignite after first stage separation. It will coast first, for 1 minute 24 seconds after separation, which itself comes five seconds after first stage shut down. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: edkyle99 on 04/17/2013 01:26 pmQuote from: collectSPACE on 04/17/2013 01:19 pmQuote from: Galactic Penguin SST on 04/17/2013 01:13 pmWill there be cameras on the rocket's first and second stages? Will there be live views from the rocket during the launch?According to Orbital, there are cameras on the first stage (looking down), and on the second stage (for stage and fairing separation). The first stage view will be available live but as the second stage events will be after Antares flies past the horizon, they will downlink those feeds later, after the second stage is in space.A good time to remind ourselves not to be surprised when the second stage doesn't ignite after first stage separation. It will coast first, for 1 minute 24 seconds after separation, which itself comes five seconds after first stage shut down. - Ed Kyle thanks for the heads up on that Ed, should be a very interesting launch.
It's obviously a very different machine from the ULA launchers or Falcon-9. Would I be right in saying that the core will get almost all the way to orbit and the U/S is little more than a kick stage to get the perigee up?
Quote from: Ben the Space Brit on 04/17/2013 03:35 pmIt's obviously a very different machine from the ULA launchers or Falcon-9. Would I be right in saying that the core will get almost all the way to orbit and the U/S is little more than a kick stage to get the perigee up?I wouldn't call it just a "kick stage". It is a bonafide stage powered by a sizable solid motor. This 14 tonne motor (twice as heavy as a Delta 2 second stage) burns for 155 seconds, one of the longest-burning solid motors I can recall. It works at better than 301 seconds ISP. It has a composite case and a big nozzle, so it is very mass and fuel efficient. - Ed Kyle