Author Topic: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Processing Flow Updates  (Read 75699 times)

Online Chris Bergin

Setting that up shortly ;)

We'll have the launch thread later too, as we've already got a great launch day article from William Graham, so we're going to be in great shape for tomorrow.
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Offline jsmjr

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Processing Flow Updates
« Reply #101 on: 09/17/2013 01:55 pm »
we're going to be in great shape for tomorrow.

We (NSF) are ready.  Now, let the weather, the range and the vehicle do the same!

Offline jacqmans

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Processing Flow Updates
« Reply #102 on: 09/17/2013 03:59 pm »
ORBITAL SET TO LAUNCH COTS DEMONSTRATION MISSION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE
STATION TOMORROW

-- Upcoming Mission Represents Final Milestone in the Development of
Antares Launch Vehicle and Cygnus Cargo Logistics Spacecraft --

(Dulles, VA  17 September 2013) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB),
one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced it
is prepared to launch its Antares rocket carrying the company’s new Cygnus
cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow morning.
The launch is currently planned to take place on Wednesday, September 18,
with lift-off scheduled at 10:50 a.m. (EDT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, VA.
Antares will launch Cygnus into a targeted orbit of 245 x 300 kilometers,
inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator.  Following in-orbit activation
shortly after launch, Cygnus will carry out a series of tests and maneuvers
over a four-day period to demonstrate its readiness to rendezvous and berth
with the station, now planned for Sunday, September 22.

“Antares is the largest and most complex rocket Orbital has ever produced,”
said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital’s President and Chief Executive
Officer.  “After its flawless inaugural flight in April, we have been
actively preparing for this next critical, much-anticipated milestone.
Likewise, Cygnus is one of the most sophisticated spacecraft Orbital has
developed and built.  As an integral part of the Space Station program, it
meets NASA’s requirements for a human-rated level of safety.  Our
engineering and operations teams are very excited to be on the threshold of
launching and conducting this mission, which they have been working toward
for the last five years.”

The goal of the mission is to demonstrate the capability of Orbital’s cargo
transportation system to reliably deliver cargo to the ISS, which will lead
to regularly scheduled missions beginning as early as December.  This
demonstration flight is the final milestone in Orbital’s Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) joint research and development initiative
with NASA.  Under the COTS program, which began in 2008, NASA and Orbital
developed Cygnus, which meets the stringent human-rated safety requirements
for ISS operations.  Orbital also privately developed the Antares launch
vehicle to provide low-cost, reliable access to space for medium-class
payloads. Together, these elements are being used for the COTS flight
demonstration of Orbital’s commercial cargo supply capability to the ISS.

Pending the successful completion of the COTS program, Orbital will begin
regularly scheduled cargo delivery missions to the ISS under its $1.9
billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.  Under the
CRS contract, Orbital will deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms of net
cargo to the ISS over eight missions through 2016.  For these missions,
NASA will manifest a variety of essential items based on ISS program needs,
including food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts and equipment, and
scientific experiments.

About Antares
The Antares medium-class launch vehicle will provide a major increase in
the payload launch capability that Orbital can provide to NASA, the U.S.
Air Force and commercial customers.  The Antares rocket will launch
spacecraft weighing up to 14,000 lbs. into low-Earth orbit, as well as
lighter-weight payloads into higher-energy orbits.  Orbital’s newest
launcher is currently on-ramped to both the NASA Launch Services-2 and the
U.S. Air Force’s Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 contracts, enabling the two
largest U.S. government space launch customers to order Antares for
“right-size and right-price” launch services for medium-class spacecraft.
For more information on Antares, visit
http://www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/Antares/.

About Cygnus
Orbital developed the Cygnus cargo spacecraft as part of its COTS joint
research and development initiative with NASA.  Cygnus consists of a common
Service Module (SM) and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM).  The SM
incorporates avionics, power and propulsion systems already successfully
flown aboard dozens of Orbital’s LEOStar™ and GEOStar™ satellite products.
The PCM, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space under a subcontract from
Orbital, is based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) used with
the Space Shuttle.  For more information on Cygnus, visit
http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Cygnus_fact.pdf
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Processing Flow Updates
« Reply #103 on: 09/17/2013 04:07 pm »
Jacques :-)

Online Chris Bergin

Any help with the upcoming presser will be appreciated. I'm trying to clear as much day job stuff to be free for the two launches tomorrow. Thanks!

Scrub that. I'm going to be able to cover this.
« Last Edit: 09/17/2013 05:54 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Online Chris Bergin

.
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Online Chris Bergin

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Online Chris Bergin

Here we go....Yay! It's Josh!
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Online Chris Bergin

Nice presser room.
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Online Chris Bergin

Alan looking excited again.

Speaking about the relationships, including entities such as the FAA, State of Virginia, etc.....and the ISS that has helped with the technical integration.
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Online Chris Bergin

Slide showing Orbital winning the COTS award.

29 milestones, this is the last one.

(They always put these slides on nasa.gov, so don't worry about the quality via NASA TV).
« Last Edit: 09/17/2013 06:05 pm by Chris Bergin »
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Online ugordan

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Processing Flow Updates
« Reply #111 on: 09/17/2013 06:05 pm »
Nice touch with the live video of the pad in the background!

Online Chris Bergin

The mission objectives for ORB-D:
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Online Chris Bergin

10 "gates" of demos for Cygnus' trip to the ISS.
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Online Chris Bergin

Video....but we've seen most of this before.
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Online Chris Bergin

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Online Chris Bergin

7:25am for berthing....on morning of arrival.
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Online Chris Bergin

Heh. We all know that's not really Cygnus they are unpacking there ;)
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Online Chris Bergin

Flyaround.
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Online Chris Bergin

"This is so critical to NASA".
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