April 14: Minotaur - COSMIC

• April 14: Minotaur - COSMIC by George CA on 28 Mar, 2006 05:28
• From SLC-8, Vandenberg Air Force Base. Thought I'd start a launch thread for this.
• #1 by Cretan126 on 31 Mar, 2006 21:58
• Here are a couple of links with info on the spacecraft and mission:
  
  http://www.cosmic.ucar.edu/index.html
  http://www.orbital.com/SatellitesSpace/LEO/FORMOSAT-3/index.html
  
  Very Orbital-centric launch:  Orbital's MicroStar spacecraft and Minotaur launch vehicle.
  
• #2 by Hotol on 03 Apr, 2006 10:40
• Orbital seem to be getting some business recently. They did ST-5 also?
• #3 by Jim on 03 Apr, 2006 16:15
• Quote

  Hotol - 3/4/2006  5:40 AMOrbital seem to be getting some business recently. They did ST-5 also?

  
  Only launched it
  
• #4 by Marijn on 09 Apr, 2006 13:18
• Hi, will NASA TV broadcast this launch live? Or will it be broadcast somewhere else?
• #5 by DaveS on 09 Apr, 2006 13:21
• NASA TV only airs launch coverage programs relative to the agency(IE only if is carrying a NASA payload).
  
  And from prior Minotaur launches, the only coverage of the launch will maybe through Spaceflightnow.com.
• #6 by edkyle99 on 09 Apr, 2006 16:18
• Quote

  Cretan126 - 31/3/2006  3:58 PM
  
  Here are a couple of links with info on the spacecraft and mission:
  
  http://www.cosmic.ucar.edu/index.html
  http://www.orbital.com/SatellitesSpace/LEO/FORMOSAT-3/index.html
  
  Very Orbital-centric launch:  Orbital's MicroStar spacecraft and Minotaur launch vehicle.
  

  
  This mission will also be launching a small communications experiment
  named "LCT2" (Low-Cost Transceiver) for NASA's Aeronautics Research
  Mission Directorate.  LCT2 will remain attached to the Minotaur upper
  stage.  See, for example,
  
  http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/lct2.htm
  
  According to:
  
  http://advrangetech.ksc.nasa.gov/Media/10_AFSS_&_LCTT.pdf
  
  LCT2 is a DARPA-FALCON/NASA Wallops project that
  involves  LJT and Associates and Johns Hopkins
  University
  
   - Ed Kyle
• #7 by Marijn on 09 Apr, 2006 18:45
• Quote

  DaveS - 8/4/2006  3:21 PM
  
  NASA TV only airs launch coverage programs relative to the agency(IE only if is carrying a NASA payload).

  
  Too bad...
• #8 by Spirit on 13 Apr, 2006 14:38
• Are NSPO and Orbital Science going to broadcast the launch on the Internet?
• #9 by DaveS on 13 Apr, 2006 15:39
• Quote

  Spirit - 13/4/2006  4:38 PM
  
  Are NSPO and Orbital Science going to broadcast the launch on the Internet?

  Don't think so. You'll have to follow it indirectly with Spaceflightnow's Mission Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/cosmic/status.html
• #10 by Chris Bergin on 13 Apr, 2006 19:26
• 
  
  RELEASE: 27-06
  
  NASA TO WEBCAST MINOTAUR LAUNCH OF COSMIC SPACECRAFT
  
  The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and
  Climate, or COSMIC, is set to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base,
  Calif., at 5:10 p.m. PDT (8:10 p.m. EDT) Friday, April 14, aboard a
  U.S. Air Force Minotaur rocket. The launch window is three hours in
  duration. The launch countdown will be available on the Internet
  beginning at 3 p.m. PDT (6 p.m. EDT) and may be accessed at:
  
  http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/video/vafb.ram
  
  A globe-spanning constellation of six weather and climate research
  satellites based upon a novel application of a NASA-developed
  technology, the network is expected to improve weather forecasts,
  monitor climate change and enhance space weather research.
  
  NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed COSMIC's
  primary instrument, a science global positioning system (GPS) space
  receiver. JPL will also provide instrument flight software and
  technical support. The five-year mission is funded by Taiwan's
  National Space Organization and various U.S. agencies, including the
  National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va., which leads science
  activities. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research,
  Boulder, Colo., manages the mission and designed the satellite array
  system.
  
  The low-orbiting satellites will be the first to provide atmospheric
  data daily in real time over thousands of points on Earth by
  measuring the bending of radio signals from the U.S. GPS as the
  signals pass through Earth's atmosphere, a technology known as radio
  occultation. The data will be used for research and operational
  weather forecasting.
  
  
• #11 by DaveS on 14 Apr, 2006 18:43
• Critical point in countdown coming up in about an hour. Thats when officials get the latest weather forecast and it doesn't look to good right now.
• #12 by DaveS on 14 Apr, 2006 20:04
• Seems like they're pressing ahead with the launch countdown. Follow along in Spaceflightnow's Mission Status Center until the NASA provided live feed begins: http://spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/cosmic/status.html
• #13 by Spirit on 14 Apr, 2006 20:35
• T-minus 4 hours and counting.
• #14 by DaveS on 14 Apr, 2006 20:52
• Service structure now moving away from the Minotaur.
• #15 by DaveS on 14 Apr, 2006 20:57
• Service structure now in launch position.
• #16 by Spirit on 14 Apr, 2006 21:26
• T-minus 3 hours and counting.
• #17 by Spirit on 14 Apr, 2006 22:26
• T-minus 2 hours and counting.
• #18 by Spirit on 14 Apr, 2006 22:29
• We have live video: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/video/vafb.ram
• #19 by Chris Bergin on 14 Apr, 2006 22:40
• Remember, anything that is entered into our live threads must be orignal. The source has to be such things as the webcast provided, not other site's coverage (as they are using their own orginal data).