Author Topic: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread  (Read 107157 times)

Offline Prober

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #220 on: 10/20/2013 05:33 pm »
The shutdown is over and dozens of images have been uploaded.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/
better yet the Gov can now cut Orbital a check.  ;)

If it was FY13 money, the lapse in appropriations was irrelevant.


But now there is someone sitting in the treasury department that can write that 5 million dollar check for the last milestone.

You got it  ;)
Now the Contractor (Orbital) can get paid for their per their contract.
 
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Offline Antares

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #221 on: 10/21/2013 01:35 am »
How do you know who was working (and how much) during the shutdown and who wasn't?  You're making assumptions based on stereotypes.  Any checks using FY13 money were still cut.
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 MP99

Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #222 on: 10/21/2013 12:08 pm »
The Treasury does not obligate money.  Agencies do, and the ability to spend FY13 money was not impacted.  The funding is not included in the CR since it was FY13 money.  Please learn government budgeting before arguing about it.
While that's understandable for Orb-D1, are you sure that's true for all Orb-1 milestones, also?

I can make a few points that suggest it strongly but are not conclusive.
1) I took the original "cut a check" comment in relation to D1 milestones not Orb-1.
2) Station Program management took the position that supply vehicles were part of protection life and property and did not fully furlough staff in that area.
3) D1 and Orb-1 milestones have been delayed from earlier in the year and did not require New Obligation Authority.

Budget and procurement are actually somewhat fascinating for technical folks because the rules are ignored or skirted so often.  Knowing them, and how they are interpreted, helps anticipate what the government might do or what the bean counters inside the government might try to do to the people wanting to do the work (both gov and contractor).

Thanks for the insight.

Obviously, I was thinking of the time the milestone payments would become due, not the time when the payments became obligated. Now you point it out, I can see how these come under FY13.

cheers, Martin

Offline Lar

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #223 on: 10/23/2013 06:46 pm »
The recent article  ( http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/10/cygnus-departs-destructive-farewell/ ) has a picture of a LEGO model of Cygnus on CAPCOM's stand.  Someone on L2 (jokingly?) said they wanted it. I posted the info there but decided here is better, it's all public info.

Here's info:
   http://rebrickable.com/sets/StephenPakbaz/cygnus

You can build it yourself, if you have the pieces, the instructions are there. You'll need LDD [1] to read the instruction file.   (as a note, I've seen a copy of this model in person at last year's Brickfair if I'm not misremembering)

Stephen Pakbaz has some prior space cred, having done Mars rovers (which got 10,000 votes on LEGO CUUSOO) and some other neat stuff. Real nice guy.  Here is a shot of the model interior showing what a clever build it is... 12 sided things are non trivial to do with LEGO elements.     
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/65402716@N07/7539524714/

Edit: If you want the parts without rooting in your collection for them, this site has copies for sale:
   http://www.brixalot.com/pages/for_sale.htm#Cygnus_I   180 USD.
I can't vouch for it myself but expect it would work out fine. The site also has an Orbital logo (as a mosaic) and a small sat among its models for sale.

1 - freely available from LEGO at http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/download/
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"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline Alpha Control

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #224 on: 10/23/2013 07:13 pm »
The recent article  ( http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/10/cygnus-departs-destructive-farewell/ ) has a picture of a LEGO model of Cygnus on CAPCOM's stand.  Someone on L2 (jokingly?) said they wanted it. I posted the info there but decided here is better, it's all public info.

Here's info:
   http://rebrickable.com/sets/StephenPakbaz/cygnus

You can build it yourself, if you have the pieces, the instructions are there. You'll need LDD [1] to read the instruction file.   (as a note, I've seen a copy of this model in person at last year's Brickfair if I'm not misremembering)

Stephen Pakbaz has some prior space cred, having done Mars rovers (which got 10,000 votes on LEGO CUUSOO) and some other neat stuff. Real nice guy.  Here is a shot of the model interior showing what a clever build it is... 12 sided things are non trivial to do with LEGO elements.     
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/65402716@N07/7539524714/

Edit: If you want the parts without rooting in your collection for them, this site has copies for sale:
   http://www.brixalot.com/pages/for_sale.htm#Cygnus_I   180 USD.
I can't vouch for it myself but expect it would work out fine. The site also has an Orbital logo (as a mosaic) and a small sat among its models for sale.

1 - freely available from LEGO at http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/download/

I took a look at the brixalot site. Very impressive Cygnus build!

They also have a Pegasus. I wonder if a certain Dr. E has one of those?  :)
Space launches attended:
Antares/Cygnus ORB-D1 Wallops Island, VA Sept 2013 | STS-123 KSC, FL March 2008 | SpaceShipOne Mojave, CA June 2004

Offline ugordan

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #225 on: 10/24/2013 04:46 pm »
Watching the mission highlights video, I'm reminded of something that intrigued me: the Antares (as well as Cygnus apparently) onboard video. It looks digital based on occasional artifacts (wavelety-looking), but the image quality appears to degrade more gracefully than for example SpaceX's recent onboard video where you either have signal or have a complete dropout.

If it really is digital, I was wondering if Orbital is employing some custom codec? Doesn't look MPEG-like to me.

EDIT: seems like a similar system was flown on the Ariane 5 with ATV-4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-32EgwhJ8w
« Last Edit: 10/24/2013 06:23 pm by ugordan »

Offline Prober

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #226 on: 10/24/2013 10:42 pm »
The recent article  ( http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/10/cygnus-departs-destructive-farewell/ ) has a picture of a LEGO model of Cygnus on CAPCOM's stand.  Someone on L2 (jokingly?) said they wanted it. I posted the info there but decided here is better, it's all public info.

Here's info:
   http://rebrickable.com/sets/StephenPakbaz/cygnus

You can build it yourself, if you have the pieces, the instructions are there. You'll need LDD [1] to read the instruction file.   (as a note, I've seen a copy of this model in person at last year's Brickfair if I'm not misremembering)

Stephen Pakbaz has some prior space cred, having done Mars rovers (which got 10,000 votes on LEGO CUUSOO) and some other neat stuff. Real nice guy.  Here is a shot of the model interior showing what a clever build it is... 12 sided things are non trivial to do with LEGO elements.     
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/65402716@N07/7539524714/

Edit: If you want the parts without rooting in your collection for them, this site has copies for sale:
   http://www.brixalot.com/pages/for_sale.htm#Cygnus_I   180 USD.
I can't vouch for it myself but expect it would work out fine. The site also has an Orbital logo (as a mosaic) and a small sat among its models for sale.

1 - freely available from LEGO at http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/download/

Another way would be to print from the work Manboy did:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=29378.0;attach=537826

Been holding off on printing one for the office as Manboy likes to do upgrades.    Hope he adds just a little more detail then Im off and printing.    :)
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Offline Lar

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #227 on: 10/24/2013 10:45 pm »
Quote from: Prober link=topic=31845.msg1112268#msg1112268 date=1382654520

Another way would be to print from the work Manboy did:
[url
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=29378.0;attach=537826[/url]

Been holding off on printing one for the office as Manboy likes to do upgrades.    Hope he adds just a little more detail then Im off and printing.    :)

He's not printing LEGO elements. :) I mean, if you want an accurate model, fine, be that way. But if you want the best model available at that scale made from LEGO... no, you can't print it. :)
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"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline dcporter

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #228 on: 10/25/2013 02:41 am »
You have to be suuuper cool before you're cooler than a lower-fidelity Lego version.

Offline Mapperuo

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #229 on: 10/25/2013 09:42 am »
Watching the mission highlights video, I'm reminded of something that intrigued me: the Antares (as well as Cygnus apparently) onboard video. It looks digital based on occasional artifacts (wavelety-looking), but the image quality appears to degrade more gracefully than for example SpaceX's recent onboard video where you either have signal or have a complete dropout.

If it really is digital, I was wondering if Orbital is employing some custom codec? Doesn't look MPEG-like to me.

EDIT: seems like a similar system was flown on the Ariane 5 with ATV-4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-32EgwhJ8w

I think the Spacex complete dropout buffering graphic was on purpose for whatever reason, I'd have preferred to see the raw feed with breakup, may have saw more video.
- Aaron

Offline QuantumG

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #230 on: 10/25/2013 10:29 am »
I think the Spacex complete dropout buffering graphic was on purpose for whatever reason, I'd have preferred to see the raw feed with breakup, may have saw more video.

There was no feed during those periods. The receiving dish at VAFB got knocked out of alignment by the launch.
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Offline ugordan

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #231 on: 10/25/2013 11:08 am »
I think the Spacex complete dropout buffering graphic was on purpose for whatever reason, I'd have preferred to see the raw feed with breakup, may have saw more video.

I'm not even talking about the complete breakup, I'm talking about how the picture completely falls apart when transmission glitches are present, see the MVac ignition moment.

Orbital's feed seems to behave more "analog-like" with increasing amounts of noise when transmission has errors. You could say it's best of both worlds - the analog "resiliency" and digital image quality.
« Last Edit: 10/25/2013 11:08 am by ugordan »

Offline arachnitect

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #232 on: 10/25/2013 02:01 pm »
I think the Spacex complete dropout buffering graphic was on purpose for whatever reason, I'd have preferred to see the raw feed with breakup, may have saw more video.

I'm not even talking about the complete breakup, I'm talking about how the picture completely falls apart when transmission glitches are present, see the MVac ignition moment.

Orbital's feed seems to behave more "analog-like" with increasing amounts of noise when transmission has errors. You could say it's best of both worlds - the analog "resiliency" and digital image quality.

You may be on to something, it looks like Orbital are using RocketCam, which does offer something like you're describing. I'm guessing SpaceX uses an in-house system that's all digital.

Quote from: http://eclipticenterprises.com/rocketcam
Ecliptic's integrated RocketCam™ systems help you understand and appreciate what your remote, complex system is doing and experiencing in extreme environments.

You don't need a high-end, expensive, science-quality imaging system.  RocketCam™ systems provide engineering and PR-quality situational awareness within a small, rugged, cost-effective package, and are available in analog (Analog Video Systems, AVS), digital (Digital Video System, DVS), and hybrid analog-digital configurations (Integrated Video Assembly, IVA).

Offline ww2planes1

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #233 on: 10/25/2013 02:28 pm »

You may be on to something, it looks like Orbital are using RocketCam, which does offer something like you're describing. I'm guessing SpaceX uses an in-house system that's all digital.


According to their "platforms" page, both Taurus II (looks like they haven't updated in a while) and Cygnus use RocketCam.
http://eclipticenterprises.com/platforms

And given SpaceX's goal of maximizing vertical integration, using an in-house developed system makes sense for them.

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #234 on: 10/25/2013 03:30 pm »

You may be on to something, it looks like Orbital are using RocketCam, which does offer something like you're describing. I'm guessing SpaceX uses an in-house system that's all digital.


According to their "platforms" page, both Taurus II (looks like they haven't updated in a while) and Cygnus use RocketCam.
http://eclipticenterprises.com/platforms

And given SpaceX's goal of maximizing vertical integration, using an in-house developed system makes sense for them.
Try looking under Antares as the name of the launcher changed quite a while ago as well as the edition of the Castor 30B and Castor 30XL Solid Rocket Motors as additional options for the second stage motor.

Offline sublimemarsupial

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #235 on: 10/25/2013 03:41 pm »

You may be on to something, it looks like Orbital are using RocketCam, which does offer something like you're describing. I'm guessing SpaceX uses an in-house system that's all digital.


According to their "platforms" page, both Taurus II (looks like they haven't updated in a while) and Cygnus use RocketCam.
http://eclipticenterprises.com/platforms

And given SpaceX's goal of maximizing vertical integration, using an in-house developed system makes sense for them.

At least some of the Falcon 1 flights used off the shelf GoPro cameras that they modified. Don't know about F9.

Offline Lars_J

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #236 on: 10/26/2013 03:56 am »

I think the Spacex complete dropout buffering graphic was on purpose for whatever reason, I'd have preferred to see the raw feed with breakup, may have saw more video.

There was no feed during those periods. The receiving dish at VAFB got knocked out of alignment by the launch.

That explains some if it, but not all. Look at the recent SpaceX video for the launch, it has more footage from that main rocket camera than the launch feed had, especially at stage separation.

Offline Lar

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Re: Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-D Discussion Thread
« Reply #237 on: 10/26/2013 04:02 am »
You have to be suuuper cool before you're cooler than a lower-fidelity Lego version.

That's what I'm talking about, right there.

THAT said I am glad they weren't using the (rebranded Logictech) LEGO camera for their onboard camera :)
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

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