Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-1 (CRS-1) Pre-Launch Update and Discussion Thread

[Chris Bergin]

Main thread for Cygnus' ORB-1 (CRS-1) mission to the ISS, pre-launch.

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Currently January 8 NET.

==

Resources:

Orbital GENERAL Forum Section:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=46.0

Orbital (Antares/Cygnus) News Articles:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/orbital/


==

L2 Antares/Cygnus Section - Really good section with a lot of resources exclusive to L2:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=54.0
(Now includes 100s of mbs of unreleased hi res images taken of Cygnus from the ISS during ORB-D).

As always, stay on topic and use the correct threads.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

[kevin-rf]

Up all night party thread?

[grythumn]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

Much better than 3-4 in the morning... SFN's guess is 12:41 EDT (you can see unofficial launch times in the HTML comments).

-Bob

[Salo]

LitSat-1 and Lituanica SAT-1 piggybacked on Cygnus CRS1:
http://www.ateiviai.lt/lietuviskus-palydovus-skraidinsiantis-kosminis-laivas-cygnus-sekmingai-atgabeno-pirma-krovini-i-tks/

[Olaf]

LitSat-1 and Lituanica SAT-1 piggybacked on Cygnus CRS1:
http://www.ateiviai.lt/lietuviskus-palydovus-skraidinsiantis-kosminis-laivas-cygnus-sekmingai-atgabeno-pirma-krovini-i-tks/

AFAIK the Lithuanian satellites are not piggybacked on Cygnus. They are internal cargo in Cygnus and will be later deployed from the Japanese section of the ISS.

[Danderman]

LitSat-1 and Lituanica SAT-1 piggybacked on Cygnus CRS1:
http://www.ateiviai.lt/lietuviskus-palydovus-skraidinsiantis-kosminis-laivas-cygnus-sekmingai-atgabeno-pirma-krovini-i-tks/

AFAIK the Lithuanian satellites are not piggybacked on Cygnus. They are internal cargo in Cygnus and will be later deployed from the Japanese section of the ISS.

along with:

UAPSAT-1 (Peru)
SkyCube (Kickstarter)
and others

These are being flown by Nanoracks, and will be deployed from the JEM airlock.

[jacqmans]

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 

Second #Cygnus service module on its way to @NASA_Wallops in prep for 1st #CRS mission for @NASA to be known as Orb-1 pic.twitter.com/YMCol5R9HG

------------
Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences 

Something poetic about first #Cygnus reentering Earth's atmosphere same day second Cygnus ships to launch site. pic.twitter.com/S2s2xVSEp2

[Lurker Steve]

When will Orbital name this Cygnus ?

Since it's the first production Cygnus, it deserves the name of another NASA / Orbital legacy.

[jsmjr]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

Much better than 3-4 in the morning... SFN's guess is 12:41 EDT (you can see unofficial launch times in the HTML comments).

-Bob

As is painfully obvious this evening, we're no longer in EDT 'round these parts so not sure what that means for the estimate.  (Couldn't find the referenced "guess.") 

Also, does anyone have an update on the likely launch date?  Seems like this should be firming up only 6 weeks out.

[russianhalo117]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

Much better than 3-4 in the morning... SFN's guess is 12:41 EDT (you can see unofficial launch times in the HTML comments).

-Bob

As is painfully obvious this evening, we're no longer in EDT 'round these parts so not sure what that means for the estimate.  (Couldn't find the referenced "guess.") 

Also, does anyone have an update on the likely launch date?  Seems like this should be firming up only 6 weeks out.

Official OSC listed date is:
Flight  3   3Q 2013*   NASA   CRS Mission 1   Wallops, Island, VA
Official NSF listed date is:
December 15 2013* - Cygnus Orb-1 (CRS1), Flock-1 (x28), LitSat-1, Lituanica SAT-1 - Antares-120 - MARS LP-0A
*As always these dates are subject to change at a moments notice.

The time is TBD and all launch times on this site GMT/UTC which does not change like the other timezones since the Earth time is set using GMT/UTC which then sets the time for missions in the universe et cetera. I will stop here before I confuse half of the internet that there are different measurement forms of time that exist for scientific studies of the planets and the Kosmos.

[grythumn]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

Much better than 3-4 in the morning... SFN's guess is 12:41 EDT (you can see unofficial launch times in the HTML comments).

-Bob

As is painfully obvious this evening, we're no longer in EDT 'round these parts so not sure what that means for the estimate.  (Couldn't find the referenced "guess.") 

Also, does anyone have an update on the likely launch date?  Seems like this should be firming up only 6 weeks out.

If you right click on the page, your browser should have an option to "View Page Source" or something similar. If you search for Orbital Sciences Antares, and look up a bit, you'll see

<quote>Launch time: </B> TBD <!--Approx. 0441 GMT (12:41 a.m. EDT)--></quote>

An HTML comment, not normally visible. I don't recall how I stumbled upon it... I don't usually go poking around in HTML source unless I'm looking for CSS tricks, fix a broken page or to bypass obnoxious JS/ads. Maybe I read about it here somewhere...

-R C

[russianhalo117]

I took a look using a satellite orbit plotting software and propagate ISS's orbit to December 15 (there should be some orbital changes between now and then, but the impact is small), and it looks like that the launch window would be in the middle of night, probably around midnight EST. 

Much better than 3-4 in the morning... SFN's guess is 12:41 EDT (you can see unofficial launch times in the HTML comments).

-Bob

As is painfully obvious this evening, we're no longer in EDT 'round these parts so not sure what that means for the estimate.  (Couldn't find the referenced "guess.") 

Also, does anyone have an update on the likely launch date?  Seems like this should be firming up only 6 weeks out.

If you right click on the page, your browser should have an option to "View Page Source" or something similar. If you search for Orbital Sciences Antares, and look up a bit, you'll see

<quote>Launch time: </B> TBD <!--Approx. 0441 GMT (12:41 a.m. EDT)--></quote>

An HTML comment, not normally visible. I don't recall how I stumbled upon it... I don't usually go poking around in HTML source unless I'm looking for CSS tricks, fix a broken page or to bypass obnoxious JS/ads. Maybe I read about it here somewhere...

-R C

I have confirmed the above post as valid.

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY M13-174


NASA Opens Media Accreditation for December Orbital Sciences Cargo Resupply Mission to International Space Station

Media accreditation is open for the launch of the first contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from Virginia.

Following successful demonstration flights of its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft earlier this year, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., will launch the Orbital-1 cargo resupply mission no earlier than Dec. 15 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility along Virginia's east coast.

This will be the first of eight planned cargo resupply missions by Orbital Sciences for NASA under the agency's $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract, which ensures a robust national capability to deliver critical science research to orbit, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations to the only laboratory in microgravity.

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by Nov. 15 for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities. The application deadline is Dec. 10 for media who are U.S. citizens. Journalists should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at [email protected].

For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Keith Koehler by email or at 757-824-1579.

For information about Orbital Sciences, and its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft, visit:

http://www.orbital.com/antares-cygnus

For more information about the International Space Station and Commercial Resupply Services, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

[edkyle99]

This should be the first flight of an Antares 120, with a Castor 30B second stage motor. 

 - Ed Kyle

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Per this the launch time is now 04:15 UTC (11:15 pm EST on December 14).

[rayleighscatter]

When will Orbital name this Cygnus ?

Since it's the first production Cygnus, it deserves the name of another NASA / Orbital legacy.

It will be C. Gordon Fullerton

[Galactic Penguin SST]

According to NASA TV's schedule, the launch is now scheduled on December 15 at 10:52 pm EST (03:52 UTC, December 16).

Orbital's PAO has since confirmed this as the current target launch date.

[Danderman]

http://nanoracks.com/nanoracks-completes-flight-integration-cubesats-bound-orb1-iss/

NanoRacks Completes Flight Integration of CubeSats Bound on Orb1 to the ISS

NanoRacks has completed flight integration of all Customer CubeSats manifested on Orbital Sciences Cargo Resupply Mission 1 “Orb1″ to the International Space Station, “ISS”.

The NanoRacks deployer pictured is one of over a dozen deployers to be transported to the US National Lab segment of the international outpost in low-Earth-orbit. The NanoRacks deployers and its customer CubeSats are sealed and transported to the ISS where station astronauts transfer them to the Japanese Experiment Module or “JEM” for later deployment.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Launch now scheduled on December 17 (local? probably December 18 GMT - should be ~03:00 UTC/10 pm EST) to clear away from the Chinese lunar landing party now rumored on December 16:

Orbital Sciences ‏@OrbitalSciences
@OrbitalSciences and @NASA have identified December 17, 2013 as the target launch date for Orbital's first ISS commericial resupply mission