Author Topic: LIVE: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - Dec 11, 2012  (Read 183627 times)

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 13, 2012
« Reply #20 on: 10/20/2012 02:42 pm »
So does that clear the deploy-able nozzle that is only used on the Delta IV?
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Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - October 30, 2012
« Reply #21 on: 10/20/2012 07:44 pm »
Purely FWIW, I wonder if this is going to be a 'display and show off' mission that will be more 'public' than the other two.  After all, there really can't be much to test except reuse on this flight.  Maybe they want a day landing at CCAFS as a crowd pleaser.

(Silently wishes for rocket-cams on this launch)

I wonder if we will get any kind of coverage after faring separation this time, after all it's not like we don't know what the X-37B looks like and surely the classified element is the payload in its bay not the rest of it which would still covered up from prying eyes at this stage in the flight?

Offline Prober

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 13, 2012
« Reply #22 on: 10/20/2012 11:16 pm »
So does that clear the deploy-able nozzle that is only used on the Delta IV?

No one wishes to talk about that.
 
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Offline AnalogMan

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 13, 2012
« Reply #23 on: 10/24/2012 11:14 pm »
Looks like this will be an afternoon launch.  Current public launch window for Nov 13 showing as 1645-2045Z (11:45am - 3:45pm EST).

Offline Chris Bergin

Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #24 on: 11/02/2012 04:56 pm »
Nice of them to think about my birthday! ;D

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (Nov. 2, 2012) -- The launch of an Atlas V carrying the third X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-3) payload for the U.S. Air Force is rescheduled for Nov. 27, pending confirmation from the 45th Space Wing regarding the revised range reservation. Although the team investigating the lower than normal upper-stage engine chamber pressure from the recent Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-3 launch has been making good progress reviewing and analyzing the data, ULA leadership and the Air Force have decided to postpone the launch two weeks to allow for additional flight data anomaly investigation activities and a thorough crossover assessment for the X-37B OTV launch vehicle to be completed.  This flight data anomaly investigation is being conducted with investigative processes that have been refined over decades of launch experience and include extensive reconstruction of the flight data with analytical models, as well as detailed inspections of several engines. The OTV-3 launch will be the third launch of the Air Force's test vehicle.

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Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #25 on: 11/02/2012 08:21 pm »
Is that now likely to be remain where it is launch date wise, or is there the strong possibility of it slipping again?

Offline Prober

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #26 on: 11/02/2012 08:46 pm »
Nice of them to think about my birthday! ;D

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (Nov. 2, 2012) -- The launch of an Atlas V carrying the third X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-3) payload for the U.S. Air Force is rescheduled for Nov. 27, pending confirmation from the 45th Space Wing regarding the revised range reservation. Although the team investigating the lower than normal upper-stage engine chamber pressure from the recent Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-3 launch has been making good progress reviewing and analyzing the data, ULA leadership and the Air Force have decided to postpone the launch two weeks to allow for additional flight data anomaly investigation activities and a thorough crossover assessment for the X-37B OTV launch vehicle to be completed.  This flight data anomaly investigation is being conducted with investigative processes that have been refined over decades of launch experience and include extensive reconstruction of the flight data with analytical models, as well as detailed inspections of several engines. The OTV-3 launch will be the third launch of the Air Force's test vehicle.



what a perfect gift
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Offline robertross

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #27 on: 11/02/2012 11:41 pm »
Nice of them to think about my birthday! ;D

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (Nov. 2, 2012) -- The launch of an Atlas V carrying the third X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-3) payload for the U.S. Air Force is rescheduled for Nov. 27, pending confirmation from the 45th Space Wing regarding the revised range reservation. Although the team investigating the lower than normal upper-stage engine chamber pressure from the recent Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-3 launch has been making good progress reviewing and analyzing the data, ULA leadership and the Air Force have decided to postpone the launch two weeks to allow for additional flight data anomaly investigation activities and a thorough crossover assessment for the X-37B OTV launch vehicle to be completed.  This flight data anomaly investigation is being conducted with investigative processes that have been refined over decades of launch experience and include extensive reconstruction of the flight data with analytical models, as well as detailed inspections of several engines. The OTV-3 launch will be the third launch of the Air Force's test vehicle.

Only a day after mine, so I'll get a belated...lol

Offline rdale

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #28 on: 11/03/2012 01:20 am »
Is that now likely to be remain where it is launch date wise, or is there the strong possibility of it slipping again?

Yes.

Depends on the investigation.

Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #29 on: 11/03/2012 09:43 am »
Is that now likely to be remain where it is launch date wise, or is there the strong possibility of it slipping again?

Yes.

Depends on the investigation.

I can see this moving back into 2013.

Offline rdale

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #30 on: 11/03/2012 11:02 am »
Based on what?

Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #31 on: 11/07/2012 09:30 pm »
Based on what?

That it wouldn't surprise me if this inquiry takes longer than expected.

Offline rdale

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #32 on: 11/07/2012 11:37 pm »
Thanks for clarifying, I thought you had some actual insight.

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #33 on: 11/08/2012 03:11 pm »
New Av. Week article that provides a little more insight. Basically, it sounds like they are still looking for the root cause.

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_11_08_2012_p03-02-514469.xml
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Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #34 on: 11/08/2012 04:38 pm »
Thanks for clarifying, I thought you had some actual insight.

Well let us hear your view on this then?
« Last Edit: 11/08/2012 04:41 pm by Star One »

Offline Antares

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« Last Edit: 11/08/2012 08:18 pm by Antares »
If I like something on NSF, it's probably because I know it to be accurate.  Every once in a while, it's just something I agree with.  Facts generally receive the former.

Offline rdale

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #36 on: 11/08/2012 08:27 pm »
Thanks for clarifying, I thought you had some actual insight.

Well let us hear your view on this then?

I have no insight at all into the progress of the troubleshooting, so my guess would be less than worthless...

Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #37 on: 11/09/2012 06:49 pm »
Thanks for clarifying, I thought you had some actual insight.

Well let us hear your view on this then?

I have no insight at all into the progress of the troubleshooting, so my guess would be less than worthless...

This article seems to indicate there could be a further delay, depending on how you read it.

Quote
The U.S. Air Force was fortunate not to lose a navigation satellite after the rocket on which it was launched Oct. 4 experienced engine trouble, a senior service official said.

http://www.spacenews.com/article/usaf-survived-close-call-on-gps-launch

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #38 on: 11/09/2012 07:24 pm »
Not to sound Snarky, but the X-37 at one point was baselined to fly on the Delta II, so I wonder if flying on a larger Atlas-401 provides it with enough margin to overcome a similar issue.

Fingers crossed they find a root cause, and resume operations soon.
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Offline Star One

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Re: Atlas V 501 - X-37B OTV-3 - NET November 27, 2012
« Reply #39 on: 11/09/2012 10:07 pm »
Not to sound Snarky, but the X-37 at one point was baselined to fly on the Delta II, so I wonder if flying on a larger Atlas-401 provides it with enough margin to overcome a similar issue.

Fingers crossed they find a root cause, and resume operations soon.

I presume you mean the 501 & yes in light of that information it must give them a considerable performance margin. A policy that as we saw with the recent GPS launch seems to be highly sensible. It must be the case that all such launches have similar performance margins? 

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