Author Topic: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 12, 2014  (Read 97107 times)

Offline Targeteer

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6153
  • near hangar 18
  • Liked: 3364
  • Likes Given: 1139
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #40 on: 12/10/2014 09:02 am »
So I was checking spaceflightnow and they have a new article giving the stats and artwork of the launch. The mission patch looks purple and epic and I will be searching the internet for a good graphic of it. It reminds me a lot of NROL-33.

Search no more.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/creepy-kitschy-and-geeky-patches-us-spy-satellites-180953562/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #41 on: 12/10/2014 09:41 am »
Just looked up the weather, was about to set the gps to travel...
doesn't look good

THURSDAY - Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain. Highs in the lower to mid 60s. Southeast winds around 15 mph - increasing to 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph late in the afternoon.

THURSDAY NIGHT - Rain. A slight chance of thunderstorms. Rain may be heavy at times in the evening. Lows in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Southeast winds 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 55 mph becoming southwest 15 to 25 mph after midnight.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forecast/w-Vandenberg-AFB-California.html#ixzz3LSmp5hAz

anyone know the wind restraints?

What's the weather prediction from the 30th Space Wing?
Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #42 on: 12/10/2014 11:25 am »
Just looked up the weather, was about to set the gps to travel...
doesn't look good

THURSDAY - Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain. Highs in the lower to mid 60s. Southeast winds around 15 mph - increasing to 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph late in the afternoon.

THURSDAY NIGHT - Rain. A slight chance of thunderstorms. Rain may be heavy at times in the evening. Lows in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Southeast winds 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 55 mph becoming southwest 15 to 25 mph after midnight.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forecast/w-Vandenberg-AFB-California.html#ixzz3LSmp5hAz

anyone know the wind restraints?

What's the weather prediction from the 30th Space Wing?

Just 10% chance of passing weather constraints! Maybe they will slip the launch today?  ::)
Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover

Offline input~2

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6810
  • Liked: 1540
  • Likes Given: 567
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #43 on: 12/10/2014 04:42 pm »
Here is Part 1 of 3 related NOTAMs
Quote
A4807/14 -  THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES ARE REQUIRED DUE TO: ALTRV 2 ROPS AIROP DO-1407 EASTBOUND TRAFFIC FROM HAWAII TO CONUS ON ATS ROUTE R578 ESTIMATING FITES BETWEEN 2200 AND 0055 SHOULD FILE R578 FOMAS ETNIC DADIE AUDIA MQO FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE. EASTBOUND TRAFFIC FROM HAWAII TO CONUS ON ATS ROUTE R577 ESTIMATING EBBER BETWEEN 2200 AND 0055 SHOULD FILE R577 ETNIC DADIE AUDIA MQO FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE. WESTBOUND TRAFFIC TO HAWAII FROM CONUS ON ATS ROUTE R578 ESTIMATING FICKY BETWEEN 0210 AND 0440 SHOULD FILE MQO AUDIA FLIGHT PLAN ROUTE. SFC - UNL END PART 1 OF 3, SEE TEXT, 11 DEC 22:00 2014 UNTIL 12 DEC 04:45 2014. CREATED: 09 DEC 21:18 2014

Offline input~2

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6810
  • Liked: 1540
  • Likes Given: 567
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #44 on: 12/10/2014 06:12 pm »
ULA ‏@ulalaunch 16 minutes ago

The @ulalaunch Launch Readiness Review is complete! We are "go" for #NROL35 launch on an #AtlasV for @NatReconOfc

Offline input~2

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6810
  • Liked: 1540
  • Likes Given: 567
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #45 on: 12/10/2014 06:16 pm »
Quote
Viewing the Launch by Webcast: The live webcast will begin at 6:57 p.m. PST.
http://www.ulalaunch.com/atlas-v-to-launch-nrol35.aspx

Offline Kim Keller

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 970
  • Not OldSpace, Not NewSpace - I'm ALLSpace
  • Location: Wherever the rockets are
  • Liked: 2419
  • Likes Given: 125
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #46 on: 12/10/2014 09:08 pm »
Here's a story titled "Vandenberg AFB prepping for West Coast's most powerful launch ever".
http://lompocrecord.com/news/local/military/vandenberg/vandenberg-afb-prepping-for-west-coast-s-most-powerful-launch/article_e8cd298c-4cb9-52a2-82bf-e17ef3915ec3.html

How soon they forget! 

Titan 4B - (remember?) - was more powerful, heavier, more capable, etc, than Atlas 541. 

Not to mention Delta 4 Heavy!

 - Ed Kyle

The first sentence in the article clarifies the matter: "The most powerful *Atlas* rocket to ever take off from the West Coast".

Offline Blackstar

  • Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15289
  • Liked: 7827
  • Likes Given: 2
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #47 on: 12/10/2014 11:22 pm »
So I was checking spaceflightnow and they have a new article giving the stats and artwork of the launch. The mission patch looks purple and epic and I will be searching the internet for a good graphic of it. It reminds me a lot of NROL-33.

Search no more.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/creepy-kitschy-and-geeky-patches-us-spy-satellites-180953562/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist

That article missed so much, like the articles I wrote with Roger Guillemette that traced a lot of the patches and identified a number of patterns (like the missions that used dragon emblems), or the fact that DNRO later issued a memorandum that obliquely referred to our article and warned employees not to reveal things in their patches...

Offline Blackstar

  • Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15289
  • Liked: 7827
  • Likes Given: 2
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #48 on: 12/10/2014 11:31 pm »
I count twelve stars on the patch. Could mean something. Or not.

Offline Appable

  • Member
  • Posts: 36
  • Washington, USA
  • Liked: 24
  • Likes Given: 23
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #49 on: 12/11/2014 04:39 am »

*photo here*

I count twelve stars on the patch. Could mean something. Or not.

Any significance with the fireball that the figure is carrying? Sometimes there's some fairly strange content in these NROL missions, like the giant space octopus patch a while back, for what was most likely a high-powered telescope satellite for surveillance. Additionally, there were the all-seeing eye pyramid shapes used a few times in the NROL series mission patches, which generated quite a bit of tabloid media coverage 'confirming the illuminati'.
This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space. If it starts pointing toward space you are having a bad problem and you will not go to space today.

Offline TitanFan

  • Member
  • Member
  • Posts: 90
  • Vandenberg Village, CA
  • Liked: 15
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #50 on: 12/11/2014 06:05 am »
This is probably one of my favorite mission patches ever. That is just awesome. On the way home from work tonight, I could see SLC-3 was lit up more than usual. Looked awesome out there. Can't wait to hear how loud and obnoxious this thing is. Going to be great!
TITAN...assured access to space.

Offline Yarrah

  • Member
  • Posts: 63
  • Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 9
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #51 on: 12/11/2014 08:06 am »
I count twelve stars on the patch. Could mean something. Or not.

The number of ELINT satellites launched into a High elliptical orbit (7 Jumpseat, including failures + 5 Trumpet)?

Offline tehwkd

Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #52 on: 12/11/2014 12:17 pm »
I count twelve stars on the patch. Could mean something. Or not.

The number of ELINT satellites launched into a High elliptical orbit (7 Jumpseat, including failures + 5 Trumpet)?

The number of screws left over from when the patch designer built an Ikea shelf?
Custodian of NextLaunch & LaunchStuff |   Utilizer of Google

Offline Carl G

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1141
  • Liked: 260
  • Likes Given: 140
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #53 on: 12/11/2014 12:23 pm »
Moved for coverage.

Offline Ben the Space Brit

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7206
  • A spaceflight fan
  • London, UK
  • Liked: 806
  • Likes Given: 900
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #54 on: 12/11/2014 12:54 pm »
Atlas-V-541 maxes out at about 8.3t to GTO. This must be quite a big bird they're lofting!
"Oops! I left the silly thing in reverse!" - Duck Dodgers

~*~*~*~

The Space Shuttle Program - 1981-2011

The time for words has passed; The time has come to put up or shut up!
DON'T PROPAGANDISE, FLY!!!

Offline Eer

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 625
  • Liked: 469
  • Likes Given: 913
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #55 on: 12/11/2014 01:31 pm »

*photo here*

I count twelve stars on the patch. Could mean something. Or not.

Any significance with the fireball that the figure is carrying? Sometimes there's some fairly strange content in these NROL missions, like the giant space octopus patch a while back, for what was most likely a high-powered telescope satellite for surveillance. Additionally, there were the all-seeing eye pyramid shapes used a few times in the NROL series mission patches, which generated quite a bit of tabloid media coverage 'confirming the illuminati'.

Looks like the fiery orb (crystal ball?) delivers fire to the trident.  Seems an appropriate symbol for a reconnaissance asset with ties to shooters on the ground (or in the sea) - to help them bring the fire, as it were.
From "The Rhetoric of Interstellar Flight", by Paul Gilster, March 10, 2011: We’ll build a future in space one dogged step at a time, and when asked how long humanity will struggle before reaching the stars, we’ll respond, “As long as it takes.”

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 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #56 on: 12/11/2014 02:44 pm »
Atlas-V-541 maxes out at about 8.3t to GTO. This must be quite a big bird they're lofting!
eerm... Vandenberg, they are not going to GTO. Though, that does not rule out HEO.
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #57 on: 12/11/2014 03:05 pm »

Atlas-V-541 maxes out at about 8.3t to GTO. This must be quite a big bird they're lofting!
eerm... Vandenberg, they are not going to GTO. Though, that does not rule out HEO.

What does this variant of the Atlas max out at going to that kind of orbit?

Online catdlr

  • Member
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11190
  • Enthusiast since the Redstones
  • Marina del Rey, California, USA
  • Liked: 8817
  • Likes Given: 7823
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #58 on: 12/11/2014 05:11 pm »
(for those interested)

National Weather Service Enhanced Radar Image Loop

Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA Radar

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NCR&rid=VBX&loop=yes
Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline vitgor

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
  • Santa Cruz, CA
  • Liked: 0
  • Likes Given: 3
Re: LIVE: Atlas V 541 - NROL-35 - December 11, 2014
« Reply #59 on: 12/11/2014 05:18 pm »
Does anybody has insights if the launch will be postponed due to the arriving storm?

I was planning to drive down at noon and to see the start with my son but I am not so sure now (due to the heavy rain and the possibility that there will be no launch).

Thank you  :)


Tags:
 

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