Pegasus-XL - C/NOFS: 15 April 2008

• Pegasus-XL - C/NOFS: 15 April 2008 by William Graham on 02 Apr, 2008 20:26
• On 15 April, an OSC Pegasus-XL is scheduled to launch with the C/NOFS satellite for the US Space Test Programme (STP) office.
  
  The rocket will be launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, into a  400 X 710km X 13° orbit.
  
  Does anyone have any further information, particularly a launch window and whether a webcast will be available?
  
  Thanks.
• #1 by Jirka Dlouhy on 03 Apr, 2008 19:30
• Meanwhile a peinture

  ---

  

  
• #2 by William Graham on 10 Apr, 2008 21:37
• Any news on this? MSDB is down, and I can't find any other information on this.
  
  Strangely quiet for a US launch.
• #3 by edkyle99 on 10 Apr, 2008 23:30
• A description, or two, of the experiment.
  
  http://www.kirtland.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070404-094.pdf
  http://www.kirtland.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=7873http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/nssrm/initiatives/cnofs.htm
  http://www.kirtland.af.mil/afrl%5Fvs/
  
  This is a Space Vehicles Directorate program out of Kirtland AFB, the folks who did XSS-11.
  http://www.kirtland.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070404-108.pdf  
  
  Kirtland doesn't talk much, and I think that the reasons are apparent.  "[T]he Spacecraft Technology Division provides technology to revolutionize space capabilities for global awareness and control of space".  
  
  I doubt we will be hearing much about this one.
  
  Regarding MSDB, I'm starting to think that it isn't "down" so much as "removed".    
  
   - Ed Kyle
• #4 by William Graham on 11 Apr, 2008 07:54
• Quote

  edkyle99 - 10/4/2008  11:30 PM
  
  Regarding MSDB, I'm starting to think that it isn't "down" so much as "removed".    
  
  

  
  When it first went down, it was an error rather than a 404. That's why I think it is only temporary downtime. The odd thing is that NASA's Space Calendar is down as well at the moment.
• #5 by eeergo on 11 Apr, 2008 15:33
• There's some info about CINDI, C/NOFS's principal payload, in the brand new NASA Science website:
  
  http://nasascience.nasa.gov/missions/cindi
  
  Here you can also find a link to the main page of the instrument:
  
  http://cindispace.utdallas.edu/
  
  There's again another link to what should be the main site of C/NOFS but I can't get through... however, I suspect it's the same Ed posted, just his is more recent.
• #6 by William Graham on 14 Apr, 2008 11:57
• A few sources suggest that the launch may occur today. I am guessing that this is a timezones issue, and thus I predict that launch will occur sometime in the next 16 hours (It is just approaching midnight on 15 April in the Marshall Islands (GMT+12), and I suspect the launch will occur on 15/04 there, but 14/04 in a different timezone. Not sure if that'll be GMT or EDT).
• #7 by Chris Bergin on 14 Apr, 2008 15:42
• Let me fire off an e-mail and try and get the lowdown on this one...
• #8 by Chris Bergin on 14 Apr, 2008 15:50
• Delayed a couple of days is the call. Will try and get some specifics later.
• #9 by William Graham on 14 Apr, 2008 15:51
• Quote

  Chris Bergin - 14/4/2008  3:42 PM
  
  Let me fire off an e-mail and try and get the lowdown on this one...

  
  Thanks. With MSDB down, and all of the project websites out-of-date bar CINDI which has very little information, we're pretty much blind at the moment.
• #10 by on 15 Apr, 2008 03:16
• NASA TV COVERAGE?
• #11 by William Graham on 15 Apr, 2008 06:25
• Quote

  jancarlobascu - 15/4/2008  3:16 AM
  
  NASA TV COVERAGE?

  Very unlikely.
• #12 by PA space fan on 15 Apr, 2008 17:03
• Per SpaceflightNow, Pegasus has been rescheduled for April 16, time TBD.
• #13 by Jirka Dlouhy on 16 Apr, 2008 06:14
• According of Spaceflight Now April 16, launch window will be open from 12:47 p.m. EDT
• #14 by William Graham on 16 Apr, 2008 08:43
• Launch window will be 16:47-18:47 GMT, release currently scheduled for 16:52.
• #15 by elmarko on 16 Apr, 2008 10:53
• No word of a webcast on the Orbital website.
• #16 by William Graham on 16 Apr, 2008 11:50
• OSC mission description page
  http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/cnofs.shtml
• #17 by William Graham on 16 Apr, 2008 17:01
• If launch occurred on schedule, burnout of the third stage should be happening around about now. SC sep would be expected in about 2 mins time (according to the AIM mission profile, I don't know if it's the same for all missions)
  
  Now we wait for news.
• #18 by PA space fan on 16 Apr, 2008 17:42
• Per Spaceflight Now, the launch took place at 12:55 p.m. EDT and was successful.
  
• #19 by William Graham on 16 Apr, 2008 17:45
• Quote

  PA space fan - 16/4/2008  5:42 PM
  
  Per Spaceflight Now, the launch took place at 12:55 p.m. EDT and was successful.
  

  
  Thanks. That's great news. C/NOFS is finally in orbit, 5 years behind schedule, but better late than never.