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April 14: Minotaur - COSMIC
by
George CA
on 28 Mar, 2006 05:28
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From SLC-8, Vandenberg Air Force Base. Thought I'd start a launch thread for this.
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#1
by
Cretan126
on 31 Mar, 2006 21:58
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#2
by
Hotol
on 03 Apr, 2006 10:40
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Orbital seem to be getting some business recently. They did ST-5 also?
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#3
by
Jim
on 03 Apr, 2006 16:15
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Hotol - 3/4/2006 5:40 AMOrbital seem to be getting some business recently. They did ST-5 also?
Only launched it
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#4
by
Marijn
on 09 Apr, 2006 13:18
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Hi, will NASA TV broadcast this launch live? Or will it be broadcast somewhere else?
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#5
by
DaveS
on 09 Apr, 2006 13:21
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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.
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#6
by
edkyle99
on 09 Apr, 2006 16:18
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#7
by
Marijn
on 09 Apr, 2006 18:45
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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...
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#8
by
Spirit
on 13 Apr, 2006 14:38
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Are NSPO and Orbital Science going to broadcast the launch on the Internet?
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#9
by
DaveS
on 13 Apr, 2006 15:39
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#10
by
Chris Bergin
on 13 Apr, 2006 19:26
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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.ramA 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.
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#11
by
DaveS
on 14 Apr, 2006 18:43
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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.
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#12
by
DaveS
on 14 Apr, 2006 20:04
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#13
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 20:35
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T-minus 4 hours and counting.
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#14
by
DaveS
on 14 Apr, 2006 20:52
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Service structure now moving away from the Minotaur.
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#15
by
DaveS
on 14 Apr, 2006 20:57
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Service structure now in launch position.
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#16
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 21:26
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T-minus 3 hours and counting.
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#17
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 22:26
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T-minus 2 hours and counting.
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#18
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 22:29
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#19
by
Chris Bergin
on 14 Apr, 2006 22:40
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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).
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#20
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:04
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I haven't seen a rocket launch in such a bad weather. Anybody knows what are the weather requirements for Minotaur launch?
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#21
by
Rocket Guy
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:08
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No vehicle can launch in precip in the US (all have a flight through precipitation rule). But Atlas 5 in Dec. 04 was pretty close :-) It was raining within a couple miles of the pad (on me!) and they found a hole in the clouds and went.
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#22
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:15
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Why US rockets are prohibited to fly in the rain?
Is it a safety measure or they are not capable of flying in such conditions?
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#23
by
Rocket Guy
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:18
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Flight through precipitation is dangerous...a rain drop is like a marble when you are travelling hundreds of miles per hour. But if they find a hole moving towards the pad they will proceed. I've been through two launches like that. The other rules pertain to cloud cover and cloud types.
I don't know what the wx rules are elsewhere (esp. Russia).
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#24
by
DaveS
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:23
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I think it is primarly because that any flight through precipitation might trigger a lightning which an hit the vehicle and possibly ending the flight.
This is what happened to Apollo 12 which got hit by lightning twice and got the primary electrical system in the CSM knocked offline.
If it hadn't been for the backup electrical system, Apollo 12 would have been forced to abort the launch.
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#25
by
Rocket Guy
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:28
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Lightning rules are even more strict...but precip is its own issue (so even if there is no threat for lightning they still won't go). Lightning rules do not allow any chance for lightning to form within 15 miles of the pad on average. Weather reconaissance planes and field mills determine real time conditions during launch.
Throughout the years they have made the rules stricter, such as with Apollo 12, and more recently in 1987 when an Atlas Centaur was taken down by lightning. Apollo 12 launched into a thunderstorm so they decided not to launch when one was right overheard. But the mileage keeps increasing.
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#26
by
Spirit
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:31
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Can you see the clouds moving on the background? They are moving pretty fast. I think we may have a window in the sky but I don't know how fast are the winds blowing. That may become an issue.
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#27
by
Rocket Guy
on 14 Apr, 2006 23:48
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They routinely launch in the low marine layer at VAFB, which is thin but low, so it's hard to tell what's what just looking at the screen. Cloud violations are based mainly on thickness, plus cloud type second and debris and precip within as well.
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#28
by
Stardust9906
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:14
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#29
by
Jamie Young
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:25
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Abort.
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#30
by
Spirit
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:28
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Something with the first stage.
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#31
by
Damon Hill
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:30
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Is that a thermal blanket around the first stage? It appears to have partially separated,
but not cleanly.
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#32
by
Spirit
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:32
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A sensor of the first stage malfunctioned. The thermal blanket separated succesfuly.
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#33
by
Spirit
on 15 Apr, 2006 00:51
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Approx. 25 minutes needed to recharge the batteries of the space craft. After that they will make another launch attempt.
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#34
by
Stardust9906
on 15 Apr, 2006 01:39
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Count at T-14 minutes.
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#35
by
Stardust9906
on 15 Apr, 2006 01:52
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T-1 minute and counting.
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#36
by
Stardust9906
on 15 Apr, 2006 01:54
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#37
by
eeergo
on 16 Apr, 2006 18:03
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