Author Topic: Astra R3.3 - LV0009 - S4 CROSSOVER - PSCA LP-3B - March 15 2022 16:22 UTC (Read 56851 times)

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #40 on:** 03/15/2022 03:16 pm »

All system Go for launch

RocketLover0119 · « **Reply #41 on:** 03/15/2022 03:28 pm »

Launch-staging all good!

RocketLover0119 · « **Reply #42 on:** 03/15/2022 03:36 pm »

Lost telem right before SECO. awaiting confirmation of deploy. All looked nominal…

edzieba · « **Reply #43 on:** 03/15/2022 03:38 pm »

Last view immediately before imagery cut off appeared to show the start of a spin. May be nominal (e.g. if rotation used to aid separation).

eeergo · « **Reply #44 on:** 03/15/2022 03:46 pm »

The ground track visualization did show a deviation towards the East at around T+10 m. Might be paralax, might be insignificant, but could have compromised their velocity target by a bit (again...)?

Velocity as separation was 7.598 km/s. Seems orbital for 525 km? Simple application of Kepler's law yields 7.599 km/s for that altitude, so seems to have hit it.

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #45 on:** 03/15/2022 03:49 pm »

https://twitter.com/Astra/status/1503774990075895808

ZachS09 · « **Reply #46 on:** 03/15/2022 03:57 pm »

I assure you that this is normal for launches from Kodiak and/or Vandenberg.

It takes time before a ground station picks up the vehicle’s signal to confirm payload deployment.

It could be at T+60 minutes or a bit later.

lightleviathan · « **Reply #47 on:** 03/15/2022 03:58 pm »

Based off of the LV0007 launch, the velocity was nominal, maybe a bit short of the target, but definitely orbital. Also, the Virgin Orbit Demo-2 flight was "Out Of Corridor" for the latter stages of flight. I think that the flight was nominal.

eeergo · « **Reply #48 on:** 03/15/2022 03:58 pm »

Quote from: ZachS09 on 03/15/2022 03:57 pm

I assure you that this is normal for launches from Kodiak and/or Vandenberg.

It takes time before a ground station picks up the vehicle’s signal to confirm payload deployment.

It could be at T+60 minutes or a bit later.

Separation was expected 10s after SECO. They had TM back then.

mainmind · « **Reply #49 on:** 03/15/2022 04:00 pm »

Quote from: eeergo on 03/15/2022 03:46 pm

The ground track visualization did show a deviation towards the East at around T+10 m. Might be paralax, might be insignificant, but could have compromised their velocity target by a bit (again...)?

Velocity as separation was 7.6 km/s. Seems orbital for 500 km?

I saw that on the screen when the NSF stream's host said the path was "right down the middle". The downlink from stage two looked choppy, but it seemed like there was oscillation of the Earth limb in the image frame. Perhaps that indicates undamped fuel slosh? Perhaps it was nothing.

The host of the stream mentioned the rocket had exceeded the view of the ground station, making confirmation of payload release difficult. Anyone know when the next ground station pass will be? One full revolution of the orbit, putting them within view of Kodiak again? Maybe earlier from a second site?

lightleviathan · « **Reply #50 on:** 03/15/2022 04:03 pm »

Quote from: mainmind on 03/15/2022 04:00 pm

Quote from: eeergo on 03/15/2022 03:46 pm
The ground track visualization did show a deviation towards the East at around T+10 m. Might be paralax, might be insignificant, but could have compromised their velocity target by a bit (again...)?

Velocity as separation was 7.6 km/s. Seems orbital for 500 km?

I saw that on the screen when the NSF stream's host said the path was "right down the middle". The downlink from stage two looked choppy, but it seemed like there was oscillation of the Earth limb in the image frame. Perhaps that indicates undamped fuel slosh? Perhaps it was nothing.

The host of the stream mentioned the rocket had exceeded the view of the ground station, making confirmation of payload release difficult. Anyone know when the next ground station pass will be? One full revolution of the orbit, putting them within view of Kodiak again? Maybe earlier from a second site?

I think that it would make since to have a ground station in Alameda, but the rocket might not be in range for coverage.

aviators99 · « **Reply #51 on:** 03/15/2022 04:04 pm »

Quote from: eeergo on 03/15/2022 03:58 pm

Quote from: ZachS09 on 03/15/2022 03:57 pm
I assure you that this is normal for launches from Kodiak and/or Vandenberg.

It takes time before a ground station picks up the vehicle’s signal to confirm payload deployment.

It could be at T+60 minutes or a bit later.

Separation was expected 10s after SECO. They had TM back then.

And the hosts certainly expected to be able to announce it. Then they *really* rushed "off the air" and to me it sounded like they were about to cry.

Svetoslav · « **Reply #52 on:** 03/15/2022 04:10 pm »

Let's just wait before jumping on conclusions. I remember similar thing happened after Virgin Orbit flight. Took them a while to get confirmation. Spaceflight gets tricky if you reach orbit and lack dishes.