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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/orbitaland
http://go.nasa.gov/1qLWDXBFor 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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#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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#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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#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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#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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#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
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#14
by
Chris Bergin
on 08 Oct, 2014 14:58
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#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.
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#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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#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]
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#20
by
Chris Bergin
on 22 Oct, 2014 22:04
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Orbital’s Orb-3 CRS Mission Update:
October 22
Following an inspection of the tracking station in Bermuda used for Antares launches after Hurricane Gonzalo, Orbital and NASA together have established October 27 as the launch date for the upcoming Orb-3 Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission will originate from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. Lift-off of the Antares rocket is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. (EDT), with rendezvous and berthing with the ISS early in the morning on November 2. Taking advantage of Cygnus' operational capabilities, Orbital is launching the Orb-3 mission to orbit several days earlier than necessary to preserve schedule flexibility and time its arrival at the station to conform to other visiting vehicle operations.
The Cygnus spacecraft is fully fueled and loaded with most of its cargo bound for the ISS and has been mated with the Antares rocket that will launch it into low-Earth orbit. The remaining time sensitive “final load” cargo will be placed onboard tomorrow, prior to fairing encapsulation, which is also scheduled for tomorrow. On Friday, October 24, the Antares rocket will be rolled out from the Horizontal Integration Facility to the MARS launch pad 0A located about a mile away.
In addition, Orbital has named the Cygnus spacecraft for the Orb-3 mission the SS Deke Slayton in honor of the decorated U.S. Air Force pilot, NASA astronaut, and early champion of America’s commercial space program. For more about Deke Slayton, please click here.
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#21
by
jacqmans
on 23 Oct, 2014 08:08
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October 22, 2014
NASA Television Coverage Set for Orbital Resupply Mission to Space Station
Orbital Sciences Corp. will launch its next mission to resupply the International Space Station Monday, Oct. 27, and NASA Television will broadcast live coverage of the event, including pre- and post-launch briefings and arrival at the station.
Orbital's Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 6:45 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Launch Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Launch coverage begins at 5:45 p.m.
A prelaunch status briefing will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, followed at 2 p.m. by a briefing to preview the mission's science cargo. A post-launch briefing will be held approximately 90 minutes after liftoff.
Media who wish to ask questions remotely during the briefing must respond to Rachel Kraft at
[email protected] no later than 30 minutes before the start of each briefing. The public may submit questions via Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA.
Cygnus will transport almost 5,000 pounds of supplies, including science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware. It will arrive at the station Sunday, Nov. 2. Expedition 41 crew members Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore of NASA will be ready in the station’s cupola to capture the resupply craft with the station's robotic arm and install it on the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module.
NASA TV coverage of capture and installation will begin at 3:30 a.m. Nov. 2, followed by grapple at 4:58 a.m. Coverage of the installation of Cygnus onto the International Space Station will begin at 7 a.m. The capsule is scheduled to depart the station Wednesday, Dec. 3, and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during reentry.
Continuing the tradition of naming its spacecraft after astronauts who have made significant contributions to spaceflight, Orbital dubbed this Cygnus resupply ship the SS Deke Slayton. The name is a tribute to original Mercury 7 astronaut Donald “Deke” K. Slayton, who flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975 and championed commercial space endeavors after retiring from NASA in 1982. Slayton passed away in 1993.
This mission is the third of eight Orbital flights NASA contracted with the company to resupply the space station, and the fourth trip by a Cygnus spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory.
For a full media schedule and more information about the Orbital CRS-3 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalFor video b-roll and media resources on the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/stationnewsFor more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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#22
by
jacqmans
on 24 Oct, 2014 14:40
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#23
by
Lewis007
on 25 Oct, 2014 07:56
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#24
by
Lewis007
on 25 Oct, 2014 08:18
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The Cygnus cargo cargo ship was encapsulated on Oct 23.
Credit: NASA Wallops facebook
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#25
by
Chris Bergin
on 25 Oct, 2014 13:46
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Will be a live thread for this, obviously - but NASA TV just showed a live view of Antares and Cygnus on the pad!
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#26
by
edkyle99
on 25 Oct, 2014 15:37
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Here's a side by side comparison of a previous Antares 120 (Orb 1 mission) with the first Antares 130 for Orb 3.
- Ed Kyle
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#27
by
rayleighscatter
on 25 Oct, 2014 16:26
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Two interstage sections instead of one larger one?
WFF is predicting 98% of acceptable weather on Monday.
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#28
by
edkyle99
on 25 Oct, 2014 17:01
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Two interstage sections instead of one larger one?
Yes. Pretty clever planning, since it allows for this planned upgrade using existing parts. Note also that the transporter/erector looks different.
- Ed Kyle
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#29
by
AnalogMan
on 25 Oct, 2014 18:38
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#30
by
catdlr
on 26 Oct, 2014 00:42
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Encapsulation:
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#31
by
russianhalo117
on 26 Oct, 2014 01:15
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Two interstage sections instead of one larger one?
Yes. Pretty clever planning, since it allows for this planned upgrade using existing parts. Note also that the transporter/erector looks different.
- Ed Kyle
yep, I wonder if they require different TELs for Antares-110/120 and Antares-130. or is the forward end with the a/c Mast swappable??
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#32
by
rayleighscatter
on 26 Oct, 2014 02:34
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Yes. Pretty clever planning, since it allows for this planned upgrade using existing parts.
- Ed Kyle
That's true, I wonder if a modular interstage like that also gives flexibility for their proposed third stages.
And fingers crossed that with a new alteration on the vehicle we get some of those great camera views back from the first flight.
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#33
by
arachnitect
on 26 Oct, 2014 15:45
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Launch Readiness Review is complete, weather is 98% go &we aren't working any issues. Looking good for launch tomorrow! #Orb3 #Antares
and a photo from @NASA
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#34
by
Prober
on 26 Oct, 2014 17:00
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#35
by
Prober
on 26 Oct, 2014 17:01
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#36
by
jcm
on 26 Oct, 2014 17:34
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Suggestion in the press conference that there are cubesats aboard Orb-3, but no details - I would have
thought that given the Nanoracks deployer problems the most they would be doing this time is launching replacement
deployers for the ones already on ISS, and even that seems sooner than I would expect.
Anyone know for sure?
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#37
by
Prober
on 26 Oct, 2014 17:36
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1 for you Ed
2 1/2 meter added
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#38
by
Prober
on 26 Oct, 2014 17:37
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#39
by
Prober
on 26 Oct, 2014 18:09
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#40
by
jacqmans
on 26 Oct, 2014 18:25
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Orbital Set to Launch Cargo Delivery Mission to International Space Station
-- Mission Marks the Fifth Flight of Antares Rocket and Fourth Deployment of Cygnus Spacecraft --
DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 2014-- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that it is prepared to launch the company’s AntaresTM rocket carrying a CygnusTM cargo logistics spacecraft destined for the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Pending completion of final vehicle testing and acceptable local weather conditions, the launch of the Orb-3 mission will take place on Monday, October 27, with lift-off scheduled for 6:45 p.m. (EDT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. The Antares medium-class rocket will boost the Cygnus spacecraft into a targeted orbit of approximately 125 x 185 miles (200 x 300 kilometers) above the Earth, inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator. Following in-orbit activation and testing after launch, Cygnus is slated to rendezvous and berth with the ISS on November 2. Live coverage of the Antares launch and Cygnus berthing with the ISS will be available on NASA Television at
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.
“Orbital’s Antares rocket will be carrying a Cygnus spacecraft, the SS Deke Slayton, named for one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts,” said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition to his distinguished career as an astronaut, Deke was an early proponent of commercial space initiatives and helped establish the Commercial Space Launch Act in October of 1984. Fittingly, the SS Deke Slayton will be launching during the same month that this groundbreaking legislation was enacted thirty years ago.”
Under its $1.9 billion CRS contract with NASA, Orbital will use Antares and Cygnus to deliver up to 44,000 pounds (20,000 kilograms) of cargo to the ISS over eight missions through 2016. For each mission, NASA will manifest a variety of essential items based on ISS program needs, including food, clothing, crew supplies, spare parts and equipment, and scientific experiments.
For Orbital’s fourth mission to the space station, which includes the 2013 full demonstration mission, the Cygnus spacecraft is carrying 5,050 pounds (2,290 kilograms) of supplies to the Space Station, including science experiments to expand the research capability of the Expedition 41 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory, along with crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware. This mission will also feature Orbital’s first use of the upgraded Castor® 30XL second stage motor, which enables greater lift capacity for this and future missions.
Orbital privately developed the Antares launch vehicle to provide low-cost, reliable access to space for medium-class payloads. It is the largest and most complex rocket the company has ever produced. Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) joint research and development initiative with NASA, Orbital also developed and demonstrated the Cygnus spacecraft, which is an advanced maneuvering vehicle that meets the stringent human-rated safety requirements for ISS operations. Together, these products showcase Orbital’s ability to apply rigorous engineering approaches and commercial business practices to significantly shorten development timelines and lower operational costs of sophisticated space systems as compared to traditional government-run programs.
About Antares
The Antares medium-class launch vehicle represents a major increase in the payload launch capability that Orbital can provide to NASA, the U.S. Air Force and commercial customers compared to its heritage small-class space launch vehicles such as Pegasus and Minotaur. The Antares rocket can launch spacecraft weighing up to 14,000 lbs. (6,400 kg.) into low-Earth orbit, as well as lighter-weight payloads into higher-energy orbits. Orbital’s newest launcher has completed four successful missions and is currently on-ramped to both the NASA Launch Services-2 and the U.S. Air Force’s Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 contracts, enabling the two largest U.S. government space launch customers to order Antares for “right-size and right-price” launch services for medium-class spacecraft. For more information on Antares, visit:
http://www.orbital.com/LaunchSystems/SpaceLaunchVehicles/Antares/.
About Cygnus
Orbital developed the Cygnus cargo spacecraft under a joint research and development program with NASA. Cygnus consists of a common Service Module (SM) and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). The SM incorporates avionics, power, propulsion and communications systems already successfully flown aboard dozens of Orbital’s LEOStar™ and GEOStar™ satellites. The PCM, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space under a subcontract from Orbital, is based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) previously used with the Space Shuttle. With a full load of cargo and fuel, the standard-configuration Cygnus weighs about 5,200 kilograms at launch and generates 3.5 kilowatts of electrical power while in orbit. It is capable of extended duration missions of a year or longer in space. For more information on Cygnus, visit:
http://www.orbital.com/AdvancedSystems/Publications/Cygnus_factsheet.pdf.
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#41
by
jacqmans
on 26 Oct, 2014 18:26
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Mission Update - October 26, 2014
The Antares team completed connecting the rocket to the launch pad's ground support equipment and successfully tested the combined system last night with no issues. The launch team will finish final preparations at Pad 0A around mid-day today and get some rest before the start of launch day preparations early tomorrow morning. Weather reports look favorable for launch tomorrow at 6:45 pm EDT (22:45 UTC).
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#42
by
John44
on 26 Oct, 2014 19:31
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#43
by
catdlr
on 27 Oct, 2014 00:06
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Antares ORB 3 Processing Highlights (NASA video)
Published on Oct 26, 2014
Orbital's Antares rocket will launch the company's Cygnus cargo spacecraft loaded with supplies for the International Space Station for NASA. The launch will occur at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the eastern shore of Virginia. NASA Wallops Flight Facility Public Affairs department captured video highlights of the Antares team readying the rocket for launch.
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#44
by
Chris Bergin
on 27 Oct, 2014 11:44
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