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ULA to Launch NASA's InSight Mission
by
moonrabbit
on 20 Dec, 2013 01:51
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NASA Selects United Launch Alliance Atlas V for 2016 Mission to Mars
http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/News.shtml#/164/"NASA's Launch Services Program announced today that it selected United Launch Alliance's (ULA's) proven Atlas V vehicle to launch the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which will place a geophysical lander on the surface of Mars."[/font][/size]
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#1
by
Targeteer
on 20 Dec, 2013 02:04
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
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#2
by
russianhalo117
on 20 Dec, 2013 02:53
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
could that be due to CCAFS upgrades??
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#3
by
Lars_J
on 20 Dec, 2013 03:24
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
It really isn't difficult... you lose the ~4-500m/s eastwards launch boost, but once in orbit it is just as easy to inject into a Mars transfer orbit from a polar orbit as it is from CCAFS. You just have tighter launch windows to deal with.
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#4
by
sdsds
on 20 Dec, 2013 03:46
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
It'll be interesting to see how this is accomplished. Centaur could put the payload into a highly elliptical orbit, and then the spacecraft's own propulsion could do the inclination change and TMI. (That puts the trans-Mars cruise more or less in the plane of the ecliptic.) But maybe Centaur can provide enough delta-v to send the spacecraft from a more polar launch inclination onto a trajectory that goes well above or below the ecliptic on its way to Mars.
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#5
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 20 Dec, 2013 04:09
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Well I would tend to believe that this is merely a typo, left over from using a previous press release as a template......
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#6
by
edkyle99
on 20 Dec, 2013 04:13
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Does this represent a miss/loss for SpaceX, or for one of ULA's remaining Delta 2 rockets?
- Ed Kyle
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#7
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 20 Dec, 2013 06:08
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Well I would tend to believe that this is merely a typo, left over from using a previous press release as a template......
Scratch that, the InSight Twitter account actually confirms this.....
Maybe it has something to do with this? (quoting from the InSight mission thread)
I remember that pre-MCO and pre-MPL, Mars Odyssey was supposed to launch from Vandenberg on a Delta II. it had something to do with the declination of the launch asymptote (DLA) which required a relatively high-inclination parking orbit (45-50 degrees) and Vandenberg was better suited. I wonder if it is the case for Insight also
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#8
by
STS-200
on 20 Dec, 2013 11:39
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
It'll be interesting to see how this is accomplished. Centaur could put the payload into a highly elliptical orbit, and then the spacecraft's own propulsion could do the inclination change and TMI. (That puts the trans-Mars cruise more or less in the plane of the ecliptic.) But maybe Centaur can provide enough delta-v to send the spacecraft from a more polar launch inclination onto a trajectory that goes well above or below the ecliptic on its way to Mars.
Centaur will do the TMI. InSight is a Phoenix derived vehicle, but is launching on an Atlas V which is more powerful than the Delta II used previously.
As LarsJ said, the only difference is in the ~400m/s to reach a polar earth orbit.
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#9
by
Jim
on 20 Dec, 2013 11:44
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The launch queue on the east coast for Atlas is full and hence the move to the west coast. Read all you want into this.
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#10
by
kevin-rf
on 20 Dec, 2013 12:08
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While not common, it has occurred once before with the Clementine lunar orbiter launch.
My first reaction was basically Jim's post. Eastern range is busy, I wonder if this is a way to squeeze more launches in. Thanks for confirming that Jim. So are you working this, or is it to early to tell?
I assume, if it was originally baselined for a Delta II, will go on an Atlas v401 with performance to spare.
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#11
by
Jim
on 20 Dec, 2013 13:20
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So are you working this, or is it to early to tell?
In my current job, I only do Cape missions. We have a resident office at VAFB who will handle this one. In previous jobs, I had to be bicoastal.
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#12
by
Lurker Steve
on 20 Dec, 2013 13:28
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Does this represent a miss/loss for SpaceX, or for one of ULA's remaining Delta 2 rockets?
- Ed Kyle
This is an Atlas, but I thought there is only 1 remaining Delta II not spoken for...
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#13
by
edkyle99
on 20 Dec, 2013 14:27
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Does this represent a miss/loss for SpaceX, or for one of ULA's remaining Delta 2 rockets?
- Ed Kyle
This is an Atlas, but I thought there is only 1 remaining Delta II not spoken for...
I was just wondering if SpaceX might have bid and lost on this launch service. Falcon 9 v1.1 should be able to boost more payload than Delta 2 toward Mars from the Cape, and this payload was originally designed for Delta 2. Atlas 5 is overkill, performance-wise and, presumably, price-wise.
- Ed Kyle
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#14
by
Lurker Steve
on 20 Dec, 2013 14:34
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I was just wondering if SpaceX might have bid and lost on this launch service. Falcon 9 v1.1 should be able to boost more payload than Delta 2 toward Mars from the Cape, and this payload was originally designed for Delta 2. Atlas 5 is overkill, performance-wise and, presumably, price-wise.
- Ed Kyle
But at least there is an actual chance of the mission launching in 2016 on a Atlas 5.
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#15
by
edkyle99
on 20 Dec, 2013 14:42
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I was just wondering if SpaceX might have bid and lost on this launch service. Falcon 9 v1.1 should be able to boost more payload than Delta 2 toward Mars from the Cape, and this payload was originally designed for Delta 2. Atlas 5 is overkill, performance-wise and, presumably, price-wise.
- Ed Kyle
But at least there is an actual chance of the mission launching in 2016 on a Atlas 5.
Why wouldn't there be a chance with Falcon 9 v1.1?
- Ed Kyle
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#16
by
William Graham
on 20 Dec, 2013 15:23
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Does this represent a miss/loss for SpaceX, or for one of ULA's remaining Delta 2 rockets?
- Ed Kyle
This is an Atlas, but I thought there is only 1 remaining Delta II not spoken for...
Delta II can only launch from VAFB; SLC-17 is no longer in use.
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#17
by
baldusi
on 20 Dec, 2013 18:24
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Does this represent a miss/loss for SpaceX, or for one of ULA's remaining Delta 2 rockets?
- Ed Kyle
This is an Atlas, but I thought there is only 1 remaining Delta II not spoken for...
I was just wondering if SpaceX might have bid and lost on this launch service. Falcon 9 v1.1 should be able to boost more payload than Delta 2 toward Mars from the Cape, and this payload was originally designed for Delta 2. Atlas 5 is overkill, performance-wise and, presumably, price-wise.
- Ed Kyle
What's the risk category of this payload? Cat three certification can only be started after six successful flights. I suspect F9v1.1 didn't had the required number of flights to get to the point where they can say on the contract that they can be reasonably sure that it will be certified by the payload's launch. This is a planetary mission, after all.
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#18
by
LouScheffer
on 20 Dec, 2013 18:54
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A mission to Mars from Vandenberg? What I thought I knew about orbital mechanics just vanished...
It'll be interesting to see how this is accomplished. Centaur could put the payload into a highly elliptical orbit, and then the spacecraft's own propulsion could do the inclination change and TMI. (That puts the trans-Mars cruise more or less in the plane of the ecliptic.) But maybe Centaur can provide enough delta-v to send the spacecraft from a more polar launch inclination onto a trajectory that goes well above or below the ecliptic on its way to Mars.
No need to do anything tricky. Imagine a LEO polar orbit just above the dawn/dusk line. As the satellite passes over the North/South pole, the velocity vector is lined up with the Earth's motion around the sun. At this point you can do a perfectly traditional, in-the-ecliptic Hohlmann transfer orbit, same delta-v as usual.
If this argument is correct (I'm not an expert on this) then launch will happen just about sunset, it will coast for about 1/3 of an orbit, then fire again in the far south.
EDIT: According to
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/nssrm/initiatives/westrang.htm, Vandenburg can launch at least somewhat eastward (azimuth 147 degrees). This would cut the deficit by about 200 m/sec, and require launch a few hours earlier.
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#19
by
ugordan
on 20 Dec, 2013 19:20
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