Author Topic: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018  (Read 92484 times)

Offline Chris Bergin

Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« on: 02/22/2013 08:13 pm »
MEDIA ADVISORY: C13-011

NASA SELECTS LAUNCH SERVICES FOR ICESAT-2 MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida has selected United Launch Services,
LLC of Englewood, Colo., to provide Delta II launch services for the
Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat)-2 mission, currently
scheduled for July 2016.

A firm fixed-price launch service task order has been awarded under
the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity NASA Launch Services
(NLS) II contract. NASA's total cost to launch ICESat-2 is $96.6
million, including payload processing, integrated services,
telemetry, reimbursables and other launch support requirements.

The Delta II rocket will place the ICESat-2 spacecraft into a
near-circular Earth polar orbit following liftoff from Space Launch
Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. ICESat-2 is a
continuation of the global time series of precision ice topography
measurements initiated by the first ICESat mission. ICESat-2 will
measure changes in the elevation of the polar ice sheets to
understand their contribution to current and future sea-level rise.
It also will characterize polar-sea ice thicknesses and global
vegetation heights to understand their connections to the Earth
system.

Subcontractors performing work for United Launch Services include
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., Alliant
Techsystems, Inc of Magna, Utah and Aerojet of Sacramento, Calif.
United Launch Services' United Launch Alliance provides the Delta II
and launch services.

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible
for management of the ICESat-2 launch service acquisition and
implementation.

For more information about the ICESat-2 mission, visit:

http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/

For more information about NASA's Launch Services Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/
« Last Edit: 09/24/2018 10:26 am by input~2 »
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Offline Lurker Steve

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #1 on: 02/22/2013 09:07 pm »
How many more Delta IIs need a mission ? There were parts for 5 more launches, right ?

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #2 on: 02/22/2013 09:35 pm »
How many more Delta IIs need a mission ? There were parts for 5 more launches, right ?

If this is the fourth manifested Delta 2 launch, then there should be one remaining, probably.  This will use a 7320.

Interesting that Delta 2, even a shelved program Delta 2, keeps winning over other rockets that could handle the payloads.  Maybe ULA should ring up Rocketdyne and Aerojet to order a few more "spare parts". ;)

 - Ed Kyle
ICESat (1) was launched on D-294 Delta II 7320-10. The same version is to be used except this time it will be 7320-10C version with the 10C instead of 10 fairing used.
« Last Edit: 02/22/2013 09:45 pm by russianhalo117 »

Offline Jim

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #3 on: 02/23/2013 12:33 am »

ICESat (1) was launched on D-294 Delta II 7320-10.

It was a 10C.

Offline TheMightyM

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #4 on: 02/23/2013 12:44 am »
Not really a surprise that the Delta II got this contract, given the previous three launches it was awarded (OCO-2, SMAP, and JPSS-1) and when ICESat-2 is scheduled to fly.

This leaves critical parts for one more Delta II — but I'm not so sure that there's another appropriately-sized NASA payload that would need a ride to space from Vandenberg before Falcon 9 and Antares get established.
« Last Edit: 02/23/2013 03:05 am by TheMightyM »

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #5 on: 02/23/2013 01:41 am »
Not really a surprise that the Delta II got this contract, given the previous three launches it was awarded (OCO-2, SMAP, and JPSS-1) and when ICESat-2 is scheduled to fly.

This leaves critical parts for one more Delta II — but I'm not so sure that there's another appropriately-sized NASA payload that would a ride to space from Vandenberg before Falcon 9 and Antares get established.
Launch is planned for NET 01-12 July 2016 to SSO using latest projections. NET 01 July 2016 is confirmed in most sources.

Offline the_roche_lobe

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #6 on: 02/23/2013 05:43 am »
I hope, Ed, that when the time comes you can complete one more entry (hopefully a happy one with no failures to report) in the fantastic Thor/Delta history series on your homepage - I've really enjoyed reading that and the Jupiter series.

P

p.s. If the mod can allow me to go slightly O/T for a second - is the AJ-10 series now dead as a production engine? Will Aerojet be making new engines for Orion or just re-purposing existing shuttle OMS engines? Are there any plans for future use of the AJ-10 elsewhere?

Offline Thorny

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #7 on: 02/23/2013 03:26 pm »
This leaves critical parts for one more Delta II — but I'm not so sure that there's another appropriately-sized NASA payload that would need a ride to space from Vandenberg before Falcon 9 and Antares get established.

Is there a GLORY 2 in the works?

Offline arachnitect

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #8 on: 02/23/2013 07:59 pm »
Is there a GLORY 2 in the works?

Not at this time.

The plan as I understand it is to split up GLORY's responsibilities: The solar irradiation portion will rely on SORCE and STPsat-3/ORS-3 until JPSS program can take over. It's not as clear how the aerosols will be handled. NASA's PACE mission would be an obvious choice, but I think they were trying to get the polarimeter supplied by CNES and that may be in jeopardy.

OCO failed at a politically opportune time. GLORY did not.

Offline LouScheffer

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #9 on: 02/23/2013 10:26 pm »

If this is the fourth manifested Delta 2 launch, then there should be one remaining, probably.  This will use a 7320.

Interesting that Delta 2, even a shelved program Delta 2, keeps winning over other rockets that could handle the payloads.  Maybe ULA should ring up Rocketdyne and Aerojet to order a few more "spare parts". ;)

 - Ed Kyle

It shows there is indeed a market for a relatively cheap, reliable launcher for smaller payloads.  Long March and Soyuz are the only other rockets in this category, I think, but I suspect NASA would prefer a Delta-II since if they picked otherwise, most likely Congress would explode, destroying the payload.  Atlas, Delta 4, and Ariane are all reliable, but are expensive and often much bigger than needed (the last Atlas was the minimum configuration, and could have launched 2 Landsats with performance to spare.) Ariane as well has to launch 2 at a time to make the economics work.

The big question is who will take over this niche?  I can't see Atlas, Delta-4, or Ariane getting cheap enough to serve this market.  Zenit has been unreliable.  If Falcon proves reliable and stays inexpensive it has a good shot, as does the proven Soyuz from New Guinea.   Antares may figure in the mix - first we need to see if it works, then whether it's cheap enough for general use, or just COTS.  And Long March may stay competitive where politics is not a factor.  Then there are the dark horse of India and Japan, if they can improve their reliability and price, respectively.

Offline TheMightyM

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #10 on: 02/23/2013 10:52 pm »
The other part of the making the economics work is launch rate, or rather the lack of it. NASA just doesn't fly that many Delta II/Taurus/Pegasus sized missions currently, and the prognosis isn't very encouraging.

Offline joek

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #11 on: 02/23/2013 11:10 pm »
Interesting that Delta 2, even a shelved program Delta 2, keeps winning over other rockets that could handle the payloads.  Maybe ULA should ring up Rocketdyne and Aerojet to order a few more "spare parts". ;)

Would be nice.  But NASA (or whoever) would also have to ring up someone to pay for infrastructure, which DoD is no longer willing to help pay for.

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #12 on: 02/24/2013 03:19 am »
OT, but Ed when was the last Delta upper stage failure (excluding Delta IV and any fairing issues).
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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #13 on: 03/15/2013 06:32 pm »
Do ablative nozzles have shelf lives, suffer from debonding as they age?
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Offline catdlr

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #14 on: 04/20/2015 07:15 pm »
Bump....

CESat-2's Instrument Lifted from Space-Simulating Chamber

Published on Apr 20, 2015
Once in orbit, the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 will go from basking in the heat of the sun to freezing in Earth’s shadow every 90 minutes. And every second in that orbit, it will need to take thousands of precise measurements of the height of the surface below.

So before launching the satellite into the harsh environment of space, engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland want to make sure that the laser instrument aboard (called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS) works consistently day and night, whatever the temperature.

Once the ATLAS box structure successfully completed a round of testing in the thermal vacuum chamber, where temperatures were raised and lowered to simulate the harsh conditions in space, crews lifted the instrument out of the chamber and rolled it back to its spot in a NASA Goddard clean room.

Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasas-atlas-thermal-testing-you-re-hot-then-you-re-cold

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Ryan Fitzgibbons

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Offline catdlr

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #15 on: 04/20/2015 07:16 pm »
ICESat-2's Instrument on the Move

Published on Apr 20, 2015
Once in orbit, the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 will go from basking in the heat of the sun to freezing in Earth’s shadow every 90 minutes. And every second in that orbit, it will need to take thousands of precise measurements of the height of the surface below.

So before launching the satellite into the harsh environment of space, engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland want to make sure that the laser instrument aboard (called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS) works consistently day and night, whatever the temperature.

Engineers and technicians have moved ICESat-2's ATLAS instrument to the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA Goddard, where it underwent tests designed to simulate the harsh space environment.

Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasas-atlas-thermal-testing-you-re-hot-then-you-re-cold

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Rob Andreoli

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Offline catdlr

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #16 on: 05/14/2015 10:10 pm »
ATLAS Structure Put Together for ICESat-2

Published on May 14, 2015
Watch Goddard engineers create one ATLAS
Credit: Tyler Evans, Goddard Opto-Mechanical Engineer.

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Offline catdlr

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #17 on: 12/10/2015 09:35 pm »
NASA | Laser Focus: The Receiver

Published on Dec 10, 2015

To see how the Transmitter works, go here

For more info: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/n...

Opto-Mechanical Engineer Tyler Evans explains how the photons that bounce back from Earth are received and filtered by the ATLAS telescope. ATLAS is the primary instrument on board the ICESat-2 spacecraft, which will measure the height of Earth's features.

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Offline edkyle99

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #18 on: 12/10/2015 10:34 pm »
OT, but Ed when was the last Delta upper stage failure (excluding Delta IV and any fairing issues).
Almost three years late, I know, but I finally saw this question.  Here's the answer, as long as we are talking about storable propellant Delta second stages.

Delta 100, a Delta 2313 model, was the first of 45 Delta 2000s that flew from 1974 to 1981.  Fitted with the first TR-201 second stage engine (a TRW LM Descent Engine derivative), it lifted off from Canaveral's Pad 17B on January 18, 1974 with Skynet 2A, a military communications satellite for the United Kingdom.   Unfortunately, a short circuit in a second stage electronics package circuit board left the upper stages and satellite in an unstable low orbit (96 x 3,406 km x 37.6 deg) that rapidly decayed.  An investigation revealed that a substandard coating had been used on the circuit board.

As for solid motor upper stages, a failure involving the third stage (Star 37E solid motor) occurred on Delta 130, a 2914 carrying GEOS 1, on April 20, 1977, stranding the payload in a low elliptical orbit.  The failure occurred just before the planned third stage burn, near the end of a 12 minute long coast period for the second and third stages and payload (the second stage performed only one burn prior to the coast).  The Star 37E third stage was released prematurely from the second stage, just before it would have been spun up - the result of a clamp band failure involving the mechanical failure of an explosive bolt.  As a result, the stage and its ESA-GEOS 1 payload slowly tumbled out of control.  The third stage fired, but only pushed GEOS 1 into a transfer orbit with a 12,000 km apogee rather than the planned 36,000 km apogee   

Delta 269, the second Delta 3, suffered an RL10B-2 second stage engine failure at restart on May 5, 1999 - the last time a Thor-derived Delta suffered a failure.  That was LH2/LOX of course, serving essentially as a prototype for the subsequent Delta 4 Medium second stage.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 12/10/2015 10:38 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Delta II - ICESat-2 - September 15, 2018
« Reply #19 on: 12/11/2015 12:20 am »
Not to sound incredulous, but that's all of the modern Delta second stage failures? Wow!

Add in the Delta IV USA-239 (GPS IIF-3) RL-10 breach and that's really not many upper stage failures at all.

Of course the last Delta II failure of any kind that I can recall was in 1997... it has been quite a while.
« Last Edit: 12/11/2015 12:21 am by kevin-rf »
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