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LIVE: Minotaur-1 - TacSat-3 - NET May 19, 09
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 13 Apr, 2009 02:27
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After some issues, seems that a launch is finally near:
Lift off for Tactical Satellite-3 has been scheduled for May 5, 2009, from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Wallops Island Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.
The program recently encountered challenges with some of the spacecraft's components, but the required repairs have been made and the system has been given the green light for its year-long experimental mission.
"Our program team never gave up, and establishment of the launch date serves as a testimony to their dedication, determination and duty to making TacSat-3's mission a success," said Dr. Thomas Cooley, TacSat-3 program manager. "Obviously, the project has much to do in these next few weeks leading up to lift off, but we now have a firm end date to get on orbit and begin the fun experiment phase."
Led by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate here, the less than 880-pound satellite, originated in 2004 to address military needs for responsible, flexible, and affordable spacecraft operating in the cosmos, consists of three innovative experiments: the Raytheon Company-built Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer hyperspectral imager, the Office of Naval Research's Satellite Communications Package, and the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Avionics Experiment.
The trio of trials will provide real-time imagery (within 10 minutes of collection); sea-based information transmitted from ocean buoys; and plug-and-play avionics to advance the technology of rapid spacecraft integration and help enable the responsive space vision.
Program participants include the AFRL's Sensors Directorate, Dept. of Defense's Operationally Responsive Space office, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Wing, Army Space and Missile Defense Command, and the Office of Naval Research.
http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123141387
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#1
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 13 Apr, 2009 17:11
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#2
by
kermit
on 13 Apr, 2009 17:24
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I wonder how close one can get to the launch pad for the launch. The visitors center is more than 7 miles from the pad. But there are several roads south of there that are much closer. One from the town of Assawoman that ends less than 2 miles west of the pad according to Google earth. Will thar road be closed for the launch?
Don
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#3
by
antonioe
on 14 Apr, 2009 01:41
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Let me ask the folks at Wallops if they have an "official" spot for the general public to go to. I guess you can always go to Chincoteague harbor...
I'm told that there is an extraordinary number of "official" visitors for this launch, mostly congressional pu... I mean, staffers, and that the Wallops PAO is trying to figure out what to do with all of them.
I'm going to try to sneak in myself.
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#4
by
kevin-rf
on 14 Apr, 2009 02:18
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Wallops PAO is trying to figure out what to do with all of them.
How big is the flame trench? Can they use the stimulus money to rent enough folding chairs?
I'm going to try to sneak in myself.
Don't get caught
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#5
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 23 Apr, 2009 22:33
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Have to include this since I used to be in CAP:
What do Civil Air Patrol planes have in common with Tactical Satellite-3?
Both utilize the same onboard processing.
Adapted for functionality in the cosmos for the upcoming TacSat-3 mission by Space Computer Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., and the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate here and Sensors Directorate, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, the Airborne Real-time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance system has been employed by the Civil Air Patrol for search and rescue, homeland security and disaster impact appraisal and aid operations.
http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123145588
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#6
by
Freddie
on 28 Apr, 2009 04:22
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I wonder how close one can get to the launch pad for the launch. The visitors center is more than 7 miles from the pad. But there are several roads south of there that are much closer. One from the town of Assawoman that ends less than 2 miles west of the pad according to Google earth. Will thar road be closed for the launch?
Don
From the Wallops TacSat-3 webpage (
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/missions/tacsat3.html):
"Viewing the Launch
The launch will be visible in the mid-Atlantic region. Locally, the NASA Visitor Center on Va. Route 175 and the beach at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague National Seashore will be open to view the launch."
The above two (2) locations are the customary viewing sites. If you check Google Earth, it will be seen the Assateague National Seashore offers a good viewing area.
Visitors up in Ocean City often watch from the ocean pier at the southern end of town although the launch site is some 60 miles distant.
The launch window is between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., EDT, on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, with back-up launch windows for the same time period on each successive day thereafter up through Tuesday, May 19, 2009.
Twitter launch schedule updates can be viewed at
http://twitter.com/NASA_Wallops.
Launch updates are also available on radio station 760AM that has a five-mile broadcast range centered upon the NASA Wallops Visitors Center.
Launch updates are also available by telephone to 757.824.2050.
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#7
by
Jim
on 28 Apr, 2009 13:41
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5/6 is the requested launch day
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#8
by
kermit
on 28 Apr, 2009 14:23
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5/6 is the requested launch day
Is that 5/6 UTC 0000 ie:5/5 2000 EDT ?
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#9
by
Cretan126
on 30 Apr, 2009 16:26
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#10
by
Cretan126
on 30 Apr, 2009 16:30
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#11
by
Chris Bergin
on 04 May, 2009 15:27
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#12
by
Jamie Young
on 04 May, 2009 16:40
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Will someone be recording the launch, as I will miss this
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#13
by
Chris Bergin
on 04 May, 2009 16:41
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Will someone be recording the launch, as I will miss this
Yep, we'll either have it on the free video section or youtube it.
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#14
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 04 May, 2009 23:45
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#15
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 05 May, 2009 13:20
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#16
by
kevin-rf
on 05 May, 2009 13:24
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Do we know if this launch is going to hug the east coast or go straight out to sea?
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#17
by
kermit
on 05 May, 2009 13:32
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Do we know if this launch is going to hug the east coast or go straight out to sea?
According to the tracking sites it appears it will be headed south east:
Two down-range tracking sites are supporting the TacSat-3
launch — Coquina and Antigua. At Coquina, located on the
Outer Banks of North Carolina, Wallops deployed mobile ra-
dar, telemetry, and command systems. The Coquina location
provides an alternative look angle at the vehicle during flight.
This angle is necessary when plume attenuates the RF signal
necessary to track the vehicle. Radar and telemetry systems at
Antigua will also track the vehicle as the spacecraft achieves
orbit.
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#18
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 05 May, 2009 17:04
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#19
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 05 May, 2009 17:25
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