SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 - Jason 3 - SLC-4E Vandenberg - Jan 17, 2016 - DISCUSSION

[jacqmans]

May 21, 2015
MEDIA ADVISORY M15-079
Media Accreditation Opens for Launch of Ocean-Measuring Satellite

Registration is open for U.S. and international media to cover the July 22 launch of Jason-3, the fourth mission in a series of satellite missions that measure the height of the ocean surface.

The Jason-3 mission, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Due to U.S. Air Force security requirements, international media must apply for accreditation at least 30 days before the launch.

Jason-3 is the latest in a series of U.S.-European satellite international missions that have been measuring the height of the ocean surface for 23 years. Sea level height is a critical piece of evidence about Earth’s natural cycles and climate change. Knowing sea level height also improves hurricane forecasts, navigation and the efficiency of fisheries and other offshore industries.

To apply, media should contact Capt. Selena Rodts at 805-606-3595 or [email protected], or by fax at 805-606-4571. To mail an accreditation request, send the required information to Rodts at 30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California 93437.

International media must provide their full legal name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and media affiliation. U.S. media must provide their full legal name, date of birth and media affiliation. A valid legal photo identification will be required for all media upon arrival at Vandenberg.

The Jason-3 project is managed within NASA by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

For more information about the Jason-3 mission, visit:
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/jason-3

[deruch]

Cool picture from the Media Release jaqmans posted: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/media-accreditation-opens-for-launch-of-ocean-measuring-satellite

"IN May 2013, technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, performed a practice run of the mechanical integration sequence used to mate the Jason-3 spacecraft's Advanced Microwave Radiometer instrument to the Jason-3 satellite. The radiometer is one of three NASA-built instruments that are integral components of Jason-3. It measures radiation from Earth's surface at three frequencies to determine the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere, which affects the accuracy of the Jason-3 altimeter measurements."
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

[AnalogMan]

Thought the following NASA/LSP presentation made as part of the Pre-ship Review of Jason-3 might be of interest.

Last 3 pages have a detailed processing calendar covering May 31 thru' Launch (July 22 on calendar)

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20150008419.pdf

(copy also attached)

[Steven Pietrobon]

That document indicates launch at 0027L, which I assume is 00:27 PDT or 07:27 UTC. The static fire is scheduled for Saturday, 11 July.

[Kim Keller]

Stage 1 arriving at VAFB today.

edit: and it's now in the hangar.

[Chris Bergin]

That document indicates launch at 0027L, which I assume is 00:27 PDT or 07:27 UTC. The static fire is scheduled for Saturday, 11 July.

We've got a slightly earlier date for the Static Fire, but it's too far out to nail that down yet anyway.

First stage arriving may be a good point for an article. This one's had an interesting flow and may have an interesting launch event (with the first stage potentially landing on land).

[CJ]

I know it's generally not a good idea to quote random twitter users as sources, but I'm hoping that, in this case, Chris will not object too much;

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/604295565246124033

SpaceX's Falcon 9 v1.1 First Stage - that *may be* returning to land after launch - is arriving in Vandenberg today for the Jason-3 mission.

Does anyone happen to know (except any L2 data, of course) if the Jason 3 land landing is contingent upon CRX7's ASDS landing? Any guesses as to when we'll know if Jason 3 will be a land landing attempt?

One reason I'm so interested in whether Jason 3 will be a land landing is I have the opportunity of seeing it in person due to a trip to the area I have to take anyway sometime this summer (It's time-flexible, thankfully).

I fervently hope that  this particular first stage will depart Vandenburg the same way it arrived: by truck.  (With a flight while there, of course).

 

[cscott]

I know it's generally not a good idea to quote random twitter users as sources, but I'm hoping that, in this case, Chris will not object too much;

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/604295565246124033

SpaceX's Falcon 9 v1.1 First Stage - that *may be* returning to land after launch - is arriving in Vandenberg today for the Jason-3 mission.

Does anyone happen to know (except any L2 data, of course) if the Jason 3 land landing is contingent upon CRX7's ASDS landing? Any guesses as to when we'll know if Jason 3 will be a land landing attempt?

One reason I'm so interested in whether Jason 3 will be a land landing is I have the opportunity of seeing it in person due to a trip to the area I have to take anyway sometime this summer (It's time-flexible, thankfully).

I fervently hope that  this particular first stage will depart Vandenburg the same way it arrived: by truck.  (With a flight while there, of course).

I don't recall seeing any definitive information to answer your question either here or in L2.  There's been lots of speculation about what sort of "proof" would satisfy the range authorities, both on the east and west coasts, but no definitive word.  It seems the gating factor is actually landing pad construction (again, on both coasts).

[411rocket]

Does anyone happen to know (except any L2 data, of course) if the Jason 3 land landing is contingent upon CRX7's ASDS landing? Any guesses as to when we'll know if Jason 3 will be a land landing attempt?

One reason I'm so interested in whether Jason 3 will be a land landing is I have the opportunity of seeing it in person due to a trip to the area I have to take anyway sometime this summer (It's time-flexible, thankfully).

I fervently hope that  this particular first stage will depart Vandenburg the same way it arrived: by truck.  (With a flight while there, of course).

I would think, that the landing pad will need to be poured ASAP, as from the latest pics posted, it is still only dirt.

[georgegassaway]

There's been lots of speculation about what sort of "proof" would satisfy the range authorities, both on the east and west coasts, but no definitive word.  It seems the gating factor is actually landing pad construction (again, on both coasts).

Sounds like a bit of the Chicken or the Egg?  Not a lot of incentive to pour a landing pad if there is no approval to land.  Unless SpaceX has been told that they HAVE to have a landing pad before they may get approval.

Of course, if SpaceX is pretty sure they will get approval eventually (not necessarily in time for a specific mission), they may as well schedule to pour the landing pads so they will be ready eventually.

In any case, it would seem silly for approval to be held up until landing pads are completed, so I do not buy that as a reason for not granting approval yet. Pad-wise, they could easily grant the landing approval, contingent on the landing pads passing inspection (whatever that might be) once completed.

- George Gassaway

[Kabloona]

There's been lots of speculation about what sort of "proof" would satisfy the range authorities, both on the east and west coasts, but no definitive word.  It seems the gating factor is actually landing pad construction (again, on both coasts).

Sounds like a bit of the Chicken or the Egg?  Not a lot of incentive to pour a landing pad if there is no approval to land.  Unless SpaceX has been told that they HAVE to have a landing pad before they may get approval.

Of course, if SpaceX is pretty sure they will get approval eventually (not necessarily in time for a specific mission), they may as well schedule to pour the landing pads so they will be ready eventually.

In any case, it would seem silly for approval to be held up until landing pads are completed, so I do not buy that as a reason for not granting approval yet. Pad-wise, they could easily grant the landing approval, contingent on the landing pads passing inspection (whatever that might be) once completed.

- George Gassaway

On the subject of landing, user ClayJar has spotted at least one, and possibly two, more SpaceX "drone ship" barges under construction near Morgan City, La. One of them may be the West Coast barge that Elon said was under construction.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=36326.msg1375558#msg1375558

We shall see if SpaceX can get the new barge out to VAFB in time for Jason 3 in case the pad isn't ready or RTLS approval is held up.

[intrepidpursuit]

Does anyone happen to know (except any L2 data, of course) if the Jason 3 land landing is contingent upon CRX7's ASDS landing? Any guesses as to when we'll know if Jason 3 will be a land landing attempt?

One reason I'm so interested in whether Jason 3 will be a land landing is I have the opportunity of seeing it in person due to a trip to the area I have to take anyway sometime this summer (It's time-flexible, thankfully).

I fervently hope that  this particular first stage will depart Vandenburg the same way it arrived: by truck.  (With a flight while there, of course).

I would think, that the landing pad will need to be poured ASAP, as from the latest pics posted, it is still only dirt.

I realize that us armchair rocket scientists have a tendency to over simplify, but isn't the landing pad basically just a thick concrete pad? Even multi-layer, high temp, treated concrete shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to pour and set. Then they pick up the rocket with a crane that could be rented on fairly short notice and handle it however they did the F9R Dev 1 in Texas. It seems like the landing pad really is simple enough that there is not much lead time. Unless there is some big piece I'm missing here.

[cscott]

I think commenters here have it backwards. Undoubtedly SpaceX knows what the range authorities want to see and where they are in both the permitting and construction process, as well as whether they are at a point in their vehicle development where they are comfortable returning to land.

We, on the other hand, are trying to read the tea leaves based on the single obvious thing we can see, which is pad construction progress.

So when we say "pads aren't ready yet" we're really just making guesses about the hidden internal process, not saying that pouring concrete is the actual roadblock.

[Kim Keller]

I've been hearing that it really depends on vehicle performance analyses. I have no details, but apparently the pendulum is swinging toward either a barge or pad landing. Nothing definitive yet.

[cscott]

Kim: you mean the pendulum is swinging "away" from an expendable flight?  (I think many of us are wondering about the pendulum that swings between barge and pad landings, and I'm just confirming that you're not talking about that.)

[georgegassaway]

Hmmm, spacexstats.com has this listing:

http://www.spacexstats.com/upcoming.php

22 Jul 2015 07:22:00   Jason 3   NOAA, Eumetsat, NASA, & CNES   Falcon 9 v1.1   SLC-4E, Vandenberg, California
Jason 3 is a scientific Earth observation satellite designed to monitor and precisely measure the world’s oceans.
Falcon 9 will attempt to land back at SLC-4W, marking the first land landing.

They say that as though landing approval has been given for Vandenberg. Have I missed something, do they have a scoop, or have they jumped the gun?

- George Gassaway

[deruch]

Hmmm, spacexstats.com has this listing:

http://www.spacexstats.com/upcoming.php

22 Jul 2015 07:22:00   Jason 3   NOAA, Eumetsat, NASA, & CNES   Falcon 9 v1.1   SLC-4E, Vandenberg, California
Jason 3 is a scientific Earth observation satellite designed to monitor and precisely measure the world’s oceans.
Falcon 9 will attempt to land back at SLC-4W, marking the first land landing.

They say that as though landing approval has been given for Vandenberg. Have I missed something, do they have a scoop, or have they jumped the gun?

- George Gassaway

Pretty sure it's old information as that site is undergoing a remodel at the moment.

[Kabloona]

That is an "unofficial" fan site using info from the reddit/SpaceX wiki, so take info with a large dose of salt.

Kim Keller's info upthread is likely to be the most current.

[chewi]

NOAA Satellites ‏@NOAASatellites · 1h ago

Launch of the Jason-3 satellite delayed. New launch date will be announced after more spacecraft testing.

[ClayJar]

Contamination in one of the thrusters.

The Jason-3 satellite launch delayed

The launch of the Jason-3 mission will not occur July 22, as announced previously. During spacecraft testing, engineers located contamination in one of the four thrusters on the spacecraft. The problem thruster has been replaced. An investigation into the contamination will continue during the next two weeks, as the new thruster is tested.

A new launch date will be announced, based on the outcome of the thruster review. To follow the latest on Jason-3, please​ ​​check back to this website (http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/jason-3​)