SpaceX FH: STP-2 : LC-39A : June 25, 2019 - DISCUSSION

[Zed_Noir]

....

http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=54055

a few snips...

"The upcoming Department of Defense’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission, carrying 24 payloads aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, is scheduled to liftoff from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on June 22, 2019."

Whoops - we have a new payload #24 here. The count on https://www.spacex.com/stp-2 also has been updated from 23 to 24. What could this be?

20 payloads listed on SpaceX site: DSX, Cosmic-2 (x 6), GPIM, Oculus, OTB, NPSAT, Prox-1, E-TBEx (x 2), LEO, Stangsat, PSAT, TEPCE (x 2), Lightsail-B

3 payloads expected to launch with STP-2: Armadillo, Bricsat-2, Falconsat-7

1 unknown

My WAG 
1 unknown = 1 Starlink ver 0.9 comsat drop off after the first SECO.

[OnWithTheShow]

There is the Celestis space burial payload but I think that is manifested as part of the OTB sat.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Ben Cooper reports that this launch would be around midnigt on 22/23 June.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

11:30 pm Eastern on June 22 - same source

(03:30 UTC on June 23)

NASA confirms time Ben Cooper reported, so first night time FH launch:

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1135564925546508291

The upcoming STP-2 Falcon Heavy launch will be the first night launch of that rocket; a NASA media advisory lists the scheduled liftoff time as 11:30 pm EDT June 22.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

June 3, 2019
MEDIA ADVISORY M19-048
Media Briefing Highlights NASA Tech on Next SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch

NASA is sending four technology missions that will help improve future spacecraft design and performance into space on the next SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch. Experts will discuss these technologies, and how they complement NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, during a media teleconference Monday, June 10 at 1 p.m. EDT.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live online at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants in the briefing will be:

    Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, will discuss how technology drives exploration to the Moon and beyond.
    Todd Ely, principal investigator for the Deep Space Atomic Clock at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will discuss how to advance exploration in deep space with a miniaturized, ultra-precise, mercury-ion atomic clock that is orders of magnitude more stable than today’s best navigation clocks.
    Don Cornwell, director of the Advanced Communications and Navigation Division of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program, will discuss how a more stable, space-based atomic clock could benefit future missions to the Moon and Mars.
    Christopher McLean, principal investigator for NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) at Ball Aerospace, will discuss the demonstration of a green alternative to conventional chemical propulsion systems for next-generation launch vehicles and spacecraft.
    Joe Cassady, executive director for space at Aerojet Rocketdyne, will discuss the five thrusters and propulsion system aboard GPIM.
    Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, will discuss Space Environment Testbeds and the importance of protecting satellites from space radiation.
    Richard Doe, payload program manager for the Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment at SRI International, will discuss how a pair of NASA CubeSats will work with six satellites of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) COSMIC-2 mission to study disruptions of signals that pass through Earth’s upper atmosphere.

To participate in the teleconference, media must contact Clare Skelly at 202-358-4273 or [email protected] by 10 a.m. June 10. Media questions may be submitted on Twitter during the teleconference using the hashtag #askNASA.

NASA’s four missions will share a ride on the Falcon Heavy with about 20 satellites from government and research institutions that make up the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which manages STP-2, are targeting 11:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22, for launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon within five years, NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed – landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 – while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. We will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare to send astronauts to Mars. The technology missions on this launch will advance a variety of future exploration missions.

For more information about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

For more information about the NASA technologies aboard this launch, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

-end-

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/media-briefing-highlights-nasa-tech-on-next-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/

[emerrill]

The one issue that had caught my attention is the LZ-1 site remediation progress prior to launch for the booster landings. The latest news that I have read is from this article'''

If they are just onto soil remediation, that usually involves digging up soil, sending it to a special landfill or processor, and replacing it with clean soil - although I don't know any specifics of what they are doing.

I would expect that they can resume some/most pad operations if that is where they are. Soil remediation is more about returning the site to its baseline state rather than an imminent risk to personal or the environment, and I would think they would just schedule around operations. Just don't eat the dirt.

Just a bit curious about this quote though as I may have misinterpreted the meaning...

Ha!

The be fair, this launch seems to have a bit more wishy-washy-ness surrounding it than usual.

Sorry, that was a poor statement/wording. It feels like there has been more than the usual amount of unofficial uncertainty around this launch date, and pretty slow to make a launch window public officially. That very well just may be me, since I am paying more attention to this launch than usual.

[gongora]

https://twitter.com/AF_SMC/status/1136065718250643456

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy center core, powering SMC's STP-2 mission, arrived near Launch Complex-39A in Florida over the weekend! This hardware will return to SpaceX's Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship, "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic. Visit: http://www.spacex.com/stp-2

[gongora]

GPIM has a passenger:
0470-EX-CN-2019

Iridium Satellite LLC (“Iridium”) is a limited liability company with
headquarters in McLean, VA. Iridium seeks experimental authority to add the Air
Force Institute of Technology’s (“AFIT”) Space Object Self-Tracker (“SOS”) CubeSat as a
point of communication, since Iridium’s Part 25 space station license does not cover
space-to-space communications.

A single Iridium modem model 9602 will be installed on the AFIT SOS, which is
scheduled to launch as a payload on NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission
(“GPIM”) satellite on June 22, 2019. AFIT seeks to develop an identification and
precision tracking capability for future space situational awareness architectures and a
method for accurately estimating orbits using GPS and Low Earth Orbit satellites.

Iridium requests an experimental license for 18 months, from July 22, 2019, to
January 22, 2021. This time period reflects the 12-month scheduled duration of the
mission plus six months to account for any possible launch or other technical delays
common to spacecraft missions.

[Star One]

Press release about the DSAC payload.

Five Things to Know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock

NASA is sending a new technology to space on June 22 that will change the way we navigate our spacecraft - even how we send astronauts to Mars and beyond. Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Deep Space Atomic Clock is a technology demonstration that will help spacecraft navigate autonomously through deep space. No larger than a toaster oven, the instrument will be tested in Earth orbit for one year, with the goal of being ready for future missions to other worlds.

Here are five key facts to know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock:

It works a lot like GPS

The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a sibling of the atomic clocks you interact with every day on your smart phone. Atomic clocks aboard satellites enable your phone's GPS application to get you from point A to point B by calculating where you are on Earth, based on the time it takes the signal to travel from the satellite to your phone.

But spacecraft don't have GPS to help them find their way in deep space; instead, navigation teams rely on atomic clocks on Earth to determine location data. The farther we travel from Earth, the longer this communication takes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock is the first atomic clock designed to fly onboard a spacecraft that goes beyond Earth's orbit, dramatically improving the process.

It will help our spacecraft navigate autonomously

Today, we navigate in deep space by using giant antennas on Earth to send signals to spacecraft, which then send those signals back to Earth. Atomic clocks on Earth measure the time it takes a signal to make this two-way journey. Only then can human navigators on Earth use large antennas to tell the spacecraft where it is and where to go.

If we want humans to explore the solar system, we need a better, faster way for the astronauts aboard a spacecraft to know where they are, ideally without needing to send signals back to Earth. A Deep Space Atomic Clock on a spacecraft would allow it to receive a signal from Earth and determine its location immediately using an onboard navigation system.

It loses only 1 second in 9 million years

Any atomic clock has to be incredibly precise to be used for this kind of navigation: A clock that is off by even a single second could mean the difference between landing on Mars and missing it by miles. In ground tests, the Deep Space Atomic Clock proved to be up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites. If the mission can prove this stability in space, it will be one of the most precise clocks in the universe.

It keeps accurate time using mercury ions

Your wristwatch and atomic clocks keep time in similar ways: by measuring the vibrations of a quartz crystal. An electrical pulse is sent through the quartz so that it vibrates steadily. This continuous vibration acts like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, ticking off how much time has passed. But a wristwatch can easily drift off track by seconds to minutes over a given period.

An atomic clock uses atoms to help maintain high precision in its measurements of the quartz vibrations. The length of a second is measured by the frequency of light released by specific atoms, which is same throughout the universe. But atoms in current clocks can be sensitive to external magnetic fields and temperature changes. The Deep Space Atomic Clock uses mercury ions - fewer than the amount typically found in two cans of tuna fish - that are contained in electromagnetic traps. Using an internal device to control the ions makes them less vulnerable to external forces.

It will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket

The Deep Space Atomic Clock will fly on the Orbital Test Bed satellite, which launches on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with around two dozen other satellites from government, military and research institutions. The launch is targeted for June 22, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be live-streamed here:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

[gongora]

https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1137038154899349504

USAF Lt. Col. Ryan Rose: Currently looking at no earlier than June 24 for Falcon Heavy launch with the STP-2 rideshare mission.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/emrekelly/status/1137042334401671168

Same launch time: 2330 ET / 0330 UTC +1.

Edit to add: more time needed for payload integration

https://twitter.com/ken_kremer/status/1137054280387612673

The @usairforce just confirmed 2 day launch delay for @SpaceX #FalconHeavy to NET Jun 24 from Jun 22 for #STP2 mission.  More time needed to integrate the 24 satellites.Window still opens 1130 PM for 1st night launch of 3core FH. All 3 boosters to be recovered including 2 by land

[Zed_Noir]

Shouldn't the launch be on June 25th in UTC time if the launch time is 23h30 ET (11:30 PM) on June 24th?

[Draggendrop]

reminder...

https://twitter.com/NASA_Technology/status/1138056032838651904

[Rondaz]

SpaceX and DoD Targeting June 24 for Falcon Heavy Launch

Sarah Loff Posted on June 10, 2019

SpaceX and the Department of Defense are targeting no earlier than Monday, June 24 at 11:30 p.m. EDT to launch the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. A Falcon Heavy rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with about two dozen satellites aboard, including four NASA missions. The NASA technology demonstrations and science missions will help improve future spacecraft design and performance.

Learn more about the exciting NASA space tech launching on the Falcon Heavy later this month:

Deep Space Atomic Clock – a navigation payload hosted on General Atomics Orbital Test Bed satellite

Green Propellant Infusion Mission – a small satellite that will demonstrate a non-toxic fuel and propulsion system

Space Environment Testbeds – instruments hosted on the Air Force Research Lab’s Demonstration and Science

Experiments spacecraftto study how to protect satellites in space

Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment – twin CubeSats to study disruptions of signals that pass-through Earth’s upper atmosphere

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2019/06/10/spacex-and-dod-targeting-june-24-for-falcon-heavy-launch/

[Chris Bergin]

FEATURE ARTICLE: NASA highlights payloads on next Falcon Heavy; LZ-1 cleared for normal operations -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/06/nasa-payloads-next-falcon-heavy-lz-1/

By Chris Gebhardt

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1138196953412583424

[ChrisC]

We know that the launch window opens at 11:30pm local time, but do we know how long that window is?  5 minutes? 2 hours? 4 hours?  I suspect "hours" but am wondering if we know for sure yet.

[scr00chy]

We know that the launch window opens at 11:30pm local time, but do we know how long that window is?  5 minutes? 2 hours? 4 hours?  I suspect "hours" but am wondering if we know for sure yet.

4 hours

[yoram]

Looking over the list of payloads, none sounds very heavy. A lot of them are cubesats. Is there some payload that is much heavier than the others? How much of the capacity of the FH is actually used?

Maybe that was already discussed, don't have time to dig through the whole thread.

[ZachS09]

Looking over the list of payloads, none sounds very heavy. A lot of them are cubesats. Is there some payload that is much heavier than the others? How much of the capacity of the FH is actually used?

Maybe that was already discussed, don't have time to dig through the whole thread.

Total payload mass is a bit over 7 tons. They’re doing this as an Air Force test flight and this is an opportunity to show how a Falcon 9 second stage can maneuver to four orbits in one mission.

[scr00chy]

Total payload mass is a bit over 7 tons. They’re doing this as an Air Force test flight and this is an opportunity to show how a Falcon 9 second stage can maneuver to four orbits in one mission.

Originally, the plan was to also include 5 tons of ballast, but I'm guessing that changed, considering the center core is able to RTLS on this launch.

[gongora]

Total payload mass is a bit over 7 tons. They’re doing this as an Air Force test flight and this is an opportunity to show how a Falcon 9 second stage can maneuver to four orbits in one mission.

Originally, the plan was to also include 5 tons of ballast, but I'm guessing that changed, considering the center core is able to RTLS on this launch.

That guess of 7 tons would include the ballast.  We don't actually know what the payload mass is.