What will happen to the SRBs? Will they stay in storage for OFT-2, be used for another mission, or be scrapped?
The Centaur upper stage for @NASA's #LucyMission arrives at ULA's Vertical Integration Facility for hoisting atop the #AtlasV first stage. The 401 configuration of the rocket will launch this mission to 8 asteroids, the most objects ever visited by a single spacecraft.
Launched:№ – Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)October 16 (into NLT November 5) - Lucy [Discovery 13] - Atlas V 401 (AV-096 082) - Canaveral SLC-41 - 09:34:00 to 10:49 ~09:00Scheduled:Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)October 30 August 12 September mid-Sept autumn Sept 13 October NET Oct 23 NET Oct 31 - USCV-3: Crew Dragon (Crew-3) - Falcon 9-128? (1067.2 S) - Kennedy LC-39A - 06:43 ~05:30 ~06:00 06:37(ISS flights: 22-26 minutes earlier/day)NET November? NET June NET July July 12? July TBD NET August? or July 31? TBD mid August? NET September NET mid Sept NET late Sept NET October NET late Sept NET Oct - Starlink flight TBD 30 31? (x60?) [v1.0 L29 ??] - Falcon 9-TBD 124 TBD 127? (S) - Canaveral SLC-40 / Kennedy LC-39A(Starlink: launch 20-22 minutes earlier/day?)TBD NET July NET August? August? NET October - Starlink flight ?? 31 (x60?) [v1.0 L30 ??] - Falcon 9 (S) - Kennedy LC-39A / Canaveral SLC-40(Starlink: launch 20-22 minutes earlier/day?)Changes on September 8th, 2020Changes on October 6th, 2020 Changes on October 16th, 2020Changes on December 14th, 2020Changes in JanuaryChanges on February 27thChanges on April 1stChanges on April 5thChanges on May 22ndChanges on May 26thChanges on May 28thChanges on May 29thChanges on June 14thChanges on July 9thChanges on July 13thChanges on July 22ndChanges on July 25thChanges on July 27thChanges on August 5thChanges on August 6thChanges on August 10thChanges on August 16thChanges on August 24thChanges on August 25thChanges on September 6thChanges on September 7thChanges on September 13thChanges on September 15thChanges on September 17thChanges on September 30thChanges on October 12thChanges on October 16thzubenelgenubi
There will be a WDR for this mission.
Big day for the #LucyMIssion! We've reached Key Decision Point E! Today @NASA gives the green light for the spacecraft to actually launch and move on to the longest mission phase: Phase E - Operations! This is where all the science happens!
I want to note that the is the final interplanetary mission to ever be launched on an Atlas.
However, actions — or, more accurately, a lack of action — 1,200 kilometers from the launch site could bring those activities to a sudden halt. The new fiscal year will begin Oct. 1 and Congress has yet to pass a temporary spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, to fund the government until it passes full-year appropriations bills. Some Republican members oppose an increase in the debt limit, required to avoid a government default, that would also be included in the CR.If Congress does not pass a CR by Oct. 1, the federal government would shut down for the first time since a five-week shutdown in December 2018 and January 2019. Nonessential government activities would stop and federal employees furloughed.NASA’s contingency plan for a shutdown, last updated June 9, states that operations of the International Space Station and other spacecraft would continue in the event of a shutdown. “However, if a satellite mission has not yet been launched, unfunded work will generally be suspended on that project,” the document states.
Since Lucy has to launch within a finite launch period to avoid a delay into next year, I believe that it will get an exemption.
Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/29/2021 06:51 amSince Lucy has to launch within a finite launch period to avoid a delay into next year, I believe that it will get an exemption.I seem to remember another interplanetary mission getting an exemption during a previous government shutdown but I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was now.
Quote from: Star One on 09/29/2021 08:05 amQuote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/29/2021 06:51 amSince Lucy has to launch within a finite launch period to avoid a delay into next year, I believe that it will get an exemption.I seem to remember another interplanetary mission getting an exemption during a previous government shutdown but I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was now.Was it Perseverance?