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#340
by
Kim Keller
on 25 May, 2010 13:47
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The Ariane 5 fairing would have had to travel more than 4,000 km in three days.
It's far more likely to have been from an earlier Ariane launch.
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#341
by
edkyle99
on 25 May, 2010 14:03
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The Ariane 5 fairing would have had to travel more than 4,000 km in [Ed Kyle correction *only one day*] three days.
It's far more likely to have been from an earlier Ariane launch.
I agree, if it is from an Ariane. Nearly five months have passed since the prior Ariane 5 launch. The interesting thing about that December 18, 2009 launch is that it was to sun synchronous orbit, which means that it took a northbound track up the Atlantic seaboard. Much easier to get to Hilton Head that way!
- Ed Kyle
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#342
by
Antares
on 25 May, 2010 22:02
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The label on the box at 1:34 says Ariane, made in France. Call it a hunch, but I don't think it's an Atlas fairing.
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#343
by
agman25
on 25 May, 2010 23:35
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Who "owns" that fairing? I would like to have a piece of it.
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#344
by
kevin-rf
on 26 May, 2010 02:19
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Who "owns" that fairing? I would like to have a piece of it.
ESA, and believe they have asked for them back in the past...
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#345
by
Blackstar
on 26 May, 2010 02:38
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Who "owns" that fairing? I would like to have a piece of it.
ESA, and believe they have asked for them back in the past...
But wouldn't shipping it to them violate ITAR?
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#346
by
Antares
on 26 May, 2010 03:02
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I've heard islanders in the Bahamas have made tables and doors out of rocket structures that have washed up.
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#347
by
William Graham
on 26 May, 2010 09:24
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Who "owns" that fairing? I would like to have a piece of it.
ESA, and believe they have asked for them back in the past...
But wouldn't shipping it to them violate ITAR?
Doesn't ITAR only apply to components built in the US?
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#348
by
Antares
on 26 May, 2010 12:38
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The label on the box at 1:34 says Ariane, made in France. Call it a hunch, but I don't think it's an Atlas fairing.
I sit corrected. I've been told it
is an Atlas fairing.
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#349
by
Antares
on 26 May, 2010 12:43
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Doesn't ITAR only apply to components built in the US?
No. As soon as it arrives in the US or is owned by a US entity, it is subject to ITAR.
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#350
by
ugordan
on 26 May, 2010 13:08
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View of the launch from an airliner. Looks like they caught it right at BECO.
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#351
by
edkyle99
on 26 May, 2010 13:41
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The label on the box at 1:34 says Ariane, made in France. Call it a hunch, but I don't think it's an Atlas fairing.
I sit corrected. I've been told it is an Atlas fairing.
Interesting. Is that "official"?
- Ed Kyle
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#352
by
FinalFrontier
on 26 May, 2010 13:50
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View of the launch from an airliner. Looks like they caught it right at BECO.
NEAT
I had no idea an atlas/centaur looked like that during staging (or after). Wish I could have seen it
People in the vid didn't seem to know however.
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#353
by
Ben the Space Brit
on 26 May, 2010 15:37
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@ Ugordan,
Interesting video. I'm assuming that the hole blown in the vapour trail at the outset is the exhaust from the core being scattered by the invisible exhaust from the SEC. I also assume that the two 'stars' to either side of the vapour cloud are the PLF halves falling back to Earth.
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#354
by
ugordan
on 26 May, 2010 16:14
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I'm assuming that the hole blown in the vapour trail at the outset is the exhaust from the core being scattered by the invisible exhaust from the SEC.
I don't believe so. The exhaust itself moves at cca. 3 km/s away from the booster and the "hole" would just be the last bit of RD-180 exhaust blown away before shutdown. There is also at least 10-15 seconds between BECO and Centaur start.
I also assume that the two 'stars' to either side of the vapour cloud are the PLF halves falling back to Earth.
I don't see any additional "stars", the fuzzy bit at BECO might be the shutdown transient and residual venting from the RD-180.
The phenomenon that's interesting to me, and can be seen in a lot of these launches is how the exhaust plume is pretty constrained up until a certain altitude and then just rapidly "explodes", even though the vehicle might be moving mainly downrange and not gaining altitude fast.
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#355
by
Ben the Space Brit
on 26 May, 2010 17:36
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I also assume that the two 'stars' to either side of the vapour cloud are the PLF halves falling back to Earth.
I don't see any additional "stars", the fuzzy bit at BECO might be the shutdown transient and residual venting from the RD-180.
One is directly above the vapour trail and the other is well to the right and slightly lower. However, they do seem to be moving downwards and fading (although the shaky hand-held cam makes it difficult to be sure) which could be them slowly fallling so that they are edge-on to the line-of-sight.
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#356
by
WHAP
on 27 May, 2010 05:02
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I think there's one vehicle, and one star (planet) in the picture. The star is a little to the right and above the vapor trail at the start. I think this is well before BECO, since the plume is continuing to grow "upward". Although there's a distinct point where the plume seems to start expanding, there's no "break, which I would expect between the Atlas plume and the Centaur plume. Long range cameras have a very difficult time picking up Centaur burn; a handheld camcorder isn't going to come close, even one flying at 35K feet.
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#357
by
Jester
on 27 May, 2010 15:55
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@Ed
Yes its confirmed.
pic below is from the video link posted before, but lets get back on topic.....
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#358
by
Jester
on 27 May, 2010 16:00
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Updated element set:
OTV-1 405 X 418 km
1 36514U 10015A 10147.12961170 .00000469 00000-0 73607-5 0 06
2 36514 39.9921 146.5125 0009492 239.0914 120.8964 15.52672295 04
Arc 20100521.36-0527.14 WRMS resid 0.039 totl 0.013 xtrk
source:
SeeSat-L
Tim Luton, Mike McCants, Jim Nix, Brad Young and Ted Molczan
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#359
by
JimO
on 27 May, 2010 17:20
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I draw your attention to this report:
http://www.spaceweather.com/ //
http://www.spaceweather.com/X-37B FLARE: Last night, amateur astronomer Scott Ferguson witnessed an "X-37B flare." As the space plane glided across the night sky of Bradenton, Florida, "it brightened to be at least twice the brightness of Arcturus. I'd say it was about magnitude -0.8 at the peak of the flare," he reports. Sunlight must be occasionally glinting from a flat surface--perhaps the bottom or doors of the space plane's payload bay. Readers, turn your cell phone into a space plane tracker and be alert for flares.
Scott Ferguson
Image taken: May. 26, 2010
Bradenton, Florida, USA
The X-37B was too small to resolve as more than a dot with my 8" Meade LX200 at f/10, but it did produce an impressive flare in brightness for about two seconds as I was tracking it. I used Brent Boshart's Satellite Tracker program to follow it, which allowed me to take my hands off the controls long enough to focus on the spacecraft shortly after acquiring it and correct for mirror flop. The image is a stack of 6 video frames from the moment when it flared in brightness.
I had no idea an atlas/centaur looked like that during staging (or after). Wish I could have seen it