Author Topic: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)  (Read 104822 times)

Offline Artyom.

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3937
  • Liked: 1416
  • Likes Given: 135
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #120 on: 12/06/2013 09:29 am »

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #121 on: 12/06/2013 09:30 am »
P-Pod 2 and 3 Deploy.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #122 on: 12/06/2013 09:34 am »
Discussing Ipex with example cubesat. P-Pod 5 deploy (I think). Sorry for low resolution.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #123 on: 12/06/2013 09:36 am »
Just after P-Pod 6 deploy. Sorry I missed it.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #124 on: 12/06/2013 09:37 am »
Discussing Cunysat.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #125 on: 12/06/2013 09:41 am »
Another deploy. Sorry for the escape message.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Rocket Science

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10586
  • NASA Educator Astronaut Candidate Applicant 2002
  • Liked: 4548
  • Likes Given: 13523
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #126 on: 12/06/2013 09:46 am »
And the “ULA Express” leaves the station on time as scheduled... Congrats to all the teams, well done!
Thanks for the great coverage NSF in the wee hours of the morning for me... Great to wake up to! :)
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #127 on: 12/06/2013 09:47 am »
After the last deploy. Looks like two more to go.
« Last Edit: 12/06/2013 09:51 am by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #128 on: 12/06/2013 09:53 am »
And we're off the air. Congratulations to ULA and all the cubesat teams!
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Online jcm

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3622
  • Jonathan McDowell
  • Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
    • Jonathan's Space Report
  • Liked: 1290
  • Likes Given: 775
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #129 on: 12/06/2013 09:58 am »
Great captures, Steven!  So I got 1022:10 UTC for Firebird,  1034:10 UTC for MCUBED/IPEX/CUNY, with
some of the other deploys at about 1024:10 and 1028:10; looks like the last one you got was around 1037 UTC.

Note that the Centaur final orbit appears to be 467 x 883 km x 120.5 deg. We were expecting 123 deg but looks
like the Centaur made an inclination change when it lowered its orbit following the main payload deploy;
also looks like there were two orbit lowering burns since we think the initial altitude was around 1050 km.
-----------------------------

Jonathan McDowell
http://planet4589.org

Offline Steven Pietrobon

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39215
  • Adelaide, Australia
    • Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
  • Liked: 32735
  • Likes Given: 8178
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #130 on: 12/06/2013 10:04 am »
Thanks Jonathan. Glad to give a little back for the other coverage out there on NSF. They were a happy bunch on the NASA coverage. Must have been the early morning.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Artyom.

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3937
  • Liked: 1416
  • Likes Given: 135
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #131 on: 12/06/2013 10:19 am »

Online jacqmans

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 21709
  • Houten, The Netherlands
  • Liked: 8560
  • Likes Given: 320
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #132 on: 12/06/2013 10:39 am »
AV-042 Mission Success Announcement

 1:05 am PST (4:05 am EST) - Press Release from ULA on Mission Success

 United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket Successfully Launches Payload for the National Reconnaissance Office

 VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Dec. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 on Dec. 5 at 11:14 p.m. PST. Designated NROL-39, the mission is in support of national defense.

 "Today's successful launch of the NROL-39 mission is a testament to the tremendous government-industry partnership. We greatly appreciate the teamwork with the NRO Office of Space Launch and our many mission partners," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Atlas and Delta Programs. "We are honored to be entrusted to launch these one-of-a-kind national assets to orbit to protect our national security and to support the many brave men and women serving around the world."

 This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 501 configuration vehicle, which includes a 5-meter diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4 engine.

 In addition to the NROL-39 payload, the Government Experimental Multi-Satellite (GEMSat), consisting of 12 CubeSats, took advantage of the Atlas V launch vehicle ride share capabilities and were deployed following completion of the primary mission. The NRO and ULA partnered to develop an Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC) on the Centaur upper stage, which is a platform for accommodating auxiliary payloads aboard Atlas V missions.

 The CubeSats were developed under a sponsorship of both the NRO and NASA. The Aerospace Corporation, the Air Force Institute of Technology and the Army developed the seven NRO-sponsored CubeSats. The five NASA-sponsored CubeSats were developed by Montana State University, California Polytechnic State University, the University of Michigan, and Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.

 "We are pleased we could support the NRO, NASA, and all of the associated institutions by successfully delivering these important auxiliary payloads which will test and validate new technologies for debris mitigation, propulsion, space weather, communications, on-orbit data processing and the use of commercially available components," said Sponnick.

 Developed by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads, the commercially developed EELV program supports the full range of government mission requirements while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.

 ULA program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

 For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch.

 SOURCE United Launch Alliance


 RELATED LINKS
http://www.ulalaunch.com/
Jacques :-)

Offline Helodriver

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1076
  • Liked: 5971
  • Likes Given: 700
Very pretty launch as seen from my location 2.1 miles from the pad. Beautiful clear night with a sky full of stars and the beams from the searchlights. Exhaust on launch was so bright it washed out my pictures entirely :-\  but I managed to capture an excellent high definition audio recording with rumbling audible for 7 minutes until it finally faded away.   

« Last Edit: 12/06/2013 11:16 am by Helodriver »

Offline kevin-rf

  • Elite Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8823
  • Overlooking the path Mary's little Lamb took..
  • Liked: 1318
  • Likes Given: 306
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #134 on: 12/06/2013 11:38 am »
Congrads!!!

The New England cloud cover was quite the soup, so no venting sightings.
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline Artyom.

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3937
  • Liked: 1416
  • Likes Given: 135
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #135 on: 12/06/2013 12:40 pm »

Offline Artyom.

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3937
  • Liked: 1416
  • Likes Given: 135
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #136 on: 12/06/2013 12:47 pm »
Launch Webcast Of ULA Atlas V-501 With NROL-39 And 12 CubeSats



Offline Chris Bergin

And we're off the air. Congratulations to ULA and all the cubesat teams!

Thanks for covering all of that Steven!
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Offline PDJennings

  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 110
  • Liked: 8
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (23:14 PST)
« Reply #138 on: 12/06/2013 12:51 pm »
Wow, congratulations to the ULA production and launch teams!  That's the first time since 2000 we have seen 8 Atlas launches in a year, and that's an impressive feat.  Ad multos annos!

Offline eltiburon

  • Member
  • Posts: 2
  • Downey
  • Liked: 0
  • Likes Given: 3
Re: Atlas V 501 - NROL-39 - December 5, 2013 (ETD 23:13 PST)
« Reply #139 on: 12/06/2013 02:55 pm »
Slightly different version of the patch image posted earlier in the thread from a ULA Facebook post

"The NROL-39 mission will be launched for the National Reconnaissance Office in support of national defense."

Reminds me of this one...

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
1