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Orbital's Antares/Cygnus ORB-3 (CRS-3) Oct. 27, 2014 pre-launch updates by jacqmans on 03 Sep, 2014 07:34
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September 2, 2014
NASA Opens Media Accreditation for Next Orbital Sciences Space Station Resupply Launch
Media accreditation now is open for the launch of the third NASA contracted cargo resupply flight from Virginia to the International Space Station by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Virginia.
The Orbital-3 cargo resupply mission will launch no earlier than 12:10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 14, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.
International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by Monday, Sept. 15, for credentials to cover prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops. The application deadline is Thursday, Oct. 9, for media who are U.S. citizens. Journalists should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at [email protected].
This will be the third of eight planned cargo resupply missions by Orbital for NASA under the agency's Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company. Cargo resupply by U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations aboard the only laboratory in microgravity.
For information about Orbital Sciences, and its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orbital
and
http://go.nasa.gov/1qLWDXB
For more information about the International Space Station and Commercial Resupply Services, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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#1 by AnalogMan on 03 Sep, 2014 14:43
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Status as presented at NAC meeting on July 28, 2014.
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#2 by Targeteer on 03 Sep, 2014 14:56
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Status as presented at NAC meeting on July 28, 2014.
The July 12th press conference noted that the engine damaged/destroyed on the stand was #17 so it was intended for Orb-4?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33924.120 -
#3 by Guinness_Harp on 08 Sep, 2014 19:33
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The NASA ISS Orb-3 Patch Design.
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#4 by Galactic Penguin SST on 16 Sep, 2014 23:57
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Looks like the launch date has moved to NET October 18 @ 10:14 pm Eastern.
http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-09-15/news/dp-nws-antares-next-launch-20140915_1_cygnus-space-freighter-wallops-island-dulles-based-orbital -
#5 by Galactic Penguin SST on 25 Sep, 2014 20:54
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NASA's launch schedule now shows Cygnus CRS-3 launching no earlier than October 20 @ 9:29 pm Eastern (01:29 UTC October 21).
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#6 by Salo on 26 Sep, 2014 04:36
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http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-3/Quote
Cygnus ISS Rendezvous: targeted October 25.
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#7 by jacqmans on 28 Sep, 2014 17:45
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#8 by Lewis007 on 01 Oct, 2014 09:30
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Cygnus Orb-3 prepped for launch.
Source: NASA Wallops facebook.
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#9 by ugordan on 01 Oct, 2014 10:45
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Nice to see occasional images of flight preparation, unlike that other company which also holds a resupply contract...
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#10 by Galactic Penguin SST on 02 Oct, 2014 20:27
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According to William Harwood's Space Page Cygnus might be heading for launch on October 22 at 8:41:04 pm Eastern (00:41:04 UTC October 23).
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#11 by Chris Bergin on 07 Oct, 2014 17:46
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#12 by Galactic Penguin SST on 08 Oct, 2014 01:20
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NET October 24 selected.
http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-3/
7:52 pm Eastern launch time for that day. Looks like Cygnus/Antares are deliberately trying again to avoid launching at night for the 3rd pair in a row....
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#13 by kevin-rf on 08 Oct, 2014 01:36
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Huh? If that time is EDT, it will be well after sunset.
Sunset today (at Wallops) was 6:34pm -
#14 by Chris Bergin on 08 Oct, 2014 14:58
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Article for the date confirmation and for Castor XL's debut:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/10/cygnus-next-iss-mission-castor-xl-debut/ -
#15 by rayleighscatter on 15 Oct, 2014 23:16
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Date now appears to be October 27, 6:44pm. Slipped due to the Bermuda tracking station closing up for Hurricane Gonzalo.
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#16 by Galactic Penguin SST on 16 Oct, 2014 04:56
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Date now appears to be October 27, 6:44pm. Slipped due to the Bermuda tracking station closing up for Hurricane Gonzalo.
From Orbital:
Mission Update - October 15, 2014
Due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Gonzalo on the island of Bermuda, where an essential tracking site used to ensure public safety during Antares launches is located, the previously announced “no earlier than” (NET) launch date of October 24 for the Orb-3 CRS mission to the International Space Station for NASA is no longer feasible.
Once the hurricane has passed Bermuda, a team from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Range will return to the tracking site to assess the situation and begin the process of re-enabling the site's functionality to support the launch.
Today, Orbital and NASA together established a NET October 27 for the launch of the Orb-3 mission from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops. However, depending on the impact of the storm on Bermuda's essential infrastructure systems such as transportation, power and communications, the launch date could be moved later. The launch schedule has been established in order to build flexibility into the overall mission schedule.
For an October 27 launch, lift-off time of the Antares rocket is targeted for 6:44 p.m. (EDT). The rendezvous and berthing of Cygnus with the ISS remains on November 2, with grapple of the spacecraft by the station’s robotic arm at approximately 4:58 a.m. (EST).
Please check back for further updates on the situation. You can also follow Orbital’s updates on Twitter and Facebook. You can follow Hurricane Gonzalo's progress at NOAA's National Hurricane Center. -
#17 by jacqmans on 20 Oct, 2014 13:17
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#18 by AnalogMan on 21 Oct, 2014 23:05
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Notice to Mariners issued October 16, 2014 (Rev A) showing ship avoidance areas for October 27-31:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/ANTARES-ORB3-NOTMARREVA.pdf
(copy also attached)
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#19 by Lewis007 on 22 Oct, 2014 06:59
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Orbital's Cygnus cargo carrier is transported October 16 from the NASA fueling facility on Wallops Island to the Horizontal Integration Facility where it will be mated to the Antares rocket.
Source: NASA Wallops facebook [Oct 17]
