SpaceX Falcon Heavy - Psyche - KSC LC-39A - 13 October 2023 (14:19 UTC)

[TNCMAXQ]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

[Jim]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

instantaneous.  Falcon can't do RAAN steering.

[ddspaceman]

NASA Space Operations
@NASASpaceOps
.@NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20, to discuss the agency’s first test of high bandwidth optical communications beyond the Moon. The Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration is launching aboard the Psyche spacecraft Thursday, Oct. 5. Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website.

Participants will discuss the goals of this demonstration and benefits of high-data-rate laser communications that could be used by future NASA missions, including Jeff Volosin, acting deputy associate administrator and program manager for @NASASCaN. More: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-discuss-optical-communications-demo-riding-with-psychehttps:

//twitter.com/NASASpaceOps/status/1702741709233295686

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spaceflightnow/status/1703887940852609328

At launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX is getting launch pad equipment ready for the Falcon Heavy's next mission carrying NASA's Psyche asteroid probe. Watch live views: youtube.com/live/mNRP1y_Ip…

[zubenelgenubi]

Belated post
SFN Launch Schedule, updated April 1:
Launch 5 October 14:38:37 UTC = 10:38:37 am EDT

Followed by this cross-post; small launch time change; my bold:

https://www.launchphotography.com/Launch_Viewing_Guide.html

FALCON 9

The next SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch a Starlink batch from pad 40 on September 15 at 12:03 a.m. EDT. A Falcon 9 will launch a Starlink batch from pad 40 on September 19 between around 12 and 4 a.m. EDT. Upcoming launches include more Starlink batches from pad 40. A Falcon Heavy will launch NASA's Psyche spacecraft to its namesake asteroid from pad 39A on October 5 at 10:34 a.m. EDT. The side boosters will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/missiontopsyche/status/1704931830057812207

T-minus 2 weeks!🚀
From takeoff to #MissionToPsyche spacecraft separation, follow along with this expected @SpaceX ascent timeline.
For more info check out:

https://psyche.asu.edu/gallery/psyche-launch-ascent-timeline/

PSYCHE LAUNCH ASCENT TIMELINE

This graphic shows the expected timeline of milestones immediately following liftoff for NASA’s Psyche spacecraft if Psyche launches at the beginning of its launch period on Oct. 5, 2023. On that day, the elapsed time from liftoff through the milestones shown here will be about 1 hour, 3 minutes.

The actual times of milestones will differ slightly depending on the launch day, but Psyche’s separation from its rocket (“deployment”) is expected to occur a little over an hour after liftoff.

Psyche is the first in a series of scientific missions from NASA and its partners to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis.

JPL also is providing a technology demonstration instrument called Deep Space Optical Communications that will fly on Psyche in order to test high-data-rate laser communications that could be used by future NASA missions.

Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of a NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch service.

For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, go to:
http://www.nasa.gov/psyche or https://psyche.asu.edu/

[ChrisC]

NASA Space Operations @NASASpaceOps
.@NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20, to discuss the agency’s first test of high bandwidth optical communications beyond the Moon. The Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration is launching aboard the Psyche spacecraft Thursday, Oct. 5. Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website.

Here's that media briefing (audio only).

I was disappointed that they didn't cover these two fairly obvious questions (not briefed and not asked):
- While the DSOC package is only designed to work for two years and out to 1 AU from Earth (thus *not* at the Psyche distance), will you be trying to operate it at that greater distance?  Would that require an extended mission approval from NASA?
- While the DSOC tech demo is not intended to carry mission critical data (e.g. actual science instrument data), if it works during the Psyche mission, is the hardware in place for that data flow to be possible?  Is there a data communications path from the science payload to the DSOC package?

That said, there were some good answers to questions at 34m17s and 41m10s, if you don't want to listen to the whole thing.

EDIT: Ha, my questions were asked and answered!  I had typed this up as the press conference was nearing the end, but at the very end Stephen Clark got it in (45m25s).  They do have the data interfaces in place!  Woohoo!

[Proxa]

It looks more and more likely that the US will have another government shutdown at the start of October. Would a government shutdown affect a mission like Psyche? Or, given the planetary window that Psyche has to hit, will it launch regardless?

[dsmillman]

It looks more and more likely that the US will have another government shutdown at the start of October. Would a government shutdown affect a mission like Psyche? Or, given the planetary window that Psyche has to hit, will it launch regardless?

Psyche is considered an operational mission now, so the launch should proceed.
There may be a problem with NASA TV coverage of the launch.
See the coverage of the New Horizons flyby of ARROKOTH in January 2019.

[Targeteer]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/psyche/

   
Technicians connected NASA’s Psyche spacecraft to the payload attach fitting inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of the rocket once secured inside the protective payload fairings. Psyche will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Psyche spacecraft will travel nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) to an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal, which can be studied from orbit to give researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core.

Now that fueling and testing are complete, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is ready to meet its ride – a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Launch is now targeting 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after optimizing the trajectory for the mission to study a metal-rich asteroid.

Technicians connected Psyche to the payload attach fitting at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of the rocket once it’s secure inside the protective payload fairings.

Psyche’s journey through space will last nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) before reaching an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal. The ore will not be mined but studied from orbit in hopes of giving researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core.

Additionally, the Psyche spacecraft will host a pioneering technology demonstration: NASA’s DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) experiment. This laser communications system will test high-bandwidth optical communications to Earth for the first two years of Psyche’s journey.

Technicians connect NASA’s Psyche spacecraft to the payload attach fitting inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

[GewoonLukas_]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/psyche/

   
Technicians connected NASA’s Psyche spacecraft to the payload attach fitting inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of the rocket once secured inside the protective payload fairings. Psyche will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Psyche spacecraft will travel nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) to an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal, which can be studied from orbit to give researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core.

Now that fueling and testing are complete, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is ready to meet its ride – a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Launch is now targeting 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after optimizing the trajectory for the mission to study a metal-rich asteroid.

Technicians connected Psyche to the payload attach fitting at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. This hardware allows Psyche to connect to the top of the rocket once it’s secure inside the protective payload fairings.

Psyche’s journey through space will last nearly six years and about 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) before reaching an asteroid of the same name, which is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche could be part of the core of a planetesimal, likely made of iron-nickel metal. The ore will not be mined but studied from orbit in hopes of giving researchers a better idea of what may make up Earth’s core.

Additionally, the Psyche spacecraft will host a pioneering technology demonstration: NASA’s DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) experiment. This laser communications system will test high-bandwidth optical communications to Earth for the first two years of Psyche’s journey.

Technicians connect NASA’s Psyche spacecraft to the payload attach fitting inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Interesting that they still mount it on top of an ESPA, even though Janus has been removed.

[zubenelgenubi]

Does anyone have/may anyone share the launch time to the second or fraction thereof?

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Does anyone have/may anyone share the launch time to the second or fraction thereof?

https://beta.science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/launch-windows/ had the daily launch windows down to the second, but it seems it's no longer accurate.

[mn]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

instantaneous.  Falcon can't do RAAN steering.

We know that F9 cannot do RAAN steering. (Which if I understand correctly means the F9 computer cannot independently calculate a new flight profile in real time based on a change in T0). And we also know that due to subcooling, F9 is committed to an instantaneous launch once they start fueling.

But: Are they not able set a launch time slightly later or earlier than optimal on launch day due to whatever other reason (weather?) (within the capabilities of the F9), start fueling and then calculate a new flight profile on the ground and upload that to the F9 computer?

Am I misunderstanding something? Is the F9 not physically capable (using a precalculated flight profile) of launching slightly out of the target plane? (The F9 has done many flights with a dogleg)

[abaddon]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

And we also know that due to subcooling, F9 is committed to an instantaneous launch once they start fueling.

Not true, the window due to sub-cooling is limited but not instantaneous.

[mn]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

And we also know that due to subcooling, F9 is committed to an instantaneous launch once they start fueling.

Not true, the window due to sub-cooling is limited but not instantaneous.

As far as I can remember SpaceX has never changed the T0 after start of fueling (since the switch to subcooling)

Edit: this question is really besides the point.
My main question is: if F9 really limited to an instantaneous window because of the lack of RAAN steering? Or do they have a certain amount of leeway and they can recalculate a new T0 and new flight profile if needed, (even if not autonomously by the flight computer)

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://flic.kr/p/2p5g4t5

[whitelancer64]

The chart lists daily launch times but not windows. Do we know if it is an instantaneous window?

And we also know that due to subcooling, F9 is committed to an instantaneous launch once they start fueling.

Not true, the window due to sub-cooling is limited but not instantaneous.

As far as I can remember SpaceX has never changed the T0 after start of fueling (since the switch to subcooling)

Edit: this question is really besides the point.
My main question is: if F9 really limited to an instantaneous window because of the lack of RAAN steering? Or do they have a certain amount of leeway and they can recalculate a new T0 and new flight profile if needed, (even if not autonomously by the flight computer)

Some SpaceX launches do have / have had launch windows, but if they start fueling, AFAIK they cannot hold until later in the window to launch. If a hold happens when they have already started fueling, IIRC they have always scrubbed and gone to the next day's launch window.

However, there have been several examples of them delaying the start of fueling until they predicted a gap in the weather would be overhead, then managing to launch through that gap.

[Alexphysics]

Without straying this thread beyond its original purpose... Falcon 9 can recycle if the window is long enough. There are resources available on the tank farm to be able to hold, detank the vehicle, recycle the count and start fueling again. They've actually tried this a couple of times on certain missions but by the time they had fully detanked the rocket, they figured out the issue they were working was not gonna be solved during that day so they scrubbed anyways. This is why it's never happened but it is a capability they've tested during countdown tests both at McGregor and also on the launchpads and they're set up to do so if needed. Falcon Heavy, however, is not capable of this as far as I'm aware, it uses up a lot of nitrogen for subcooling and would need tank farm replenishment to try again.

TL;DR: Falcon 9 can recycle by detanking and tanking again but it's effectively not useful since you need both long windows and figuring out the issue in a short time.

[abaddon]

The idea that F9 couldn’t e.g. hold for 10 seconds and then launch strictly due to sun-cooling is patently ridiculous.  Sun-cooling doesn’t require an instantaneous launch window.  I don’t remember exactly how long they can extend the window without a full drain/retank, that may not be known publicly.