Author Topic: SpaceX F9 : Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich : Vand. : Nov. 21, 2020 (17:17 UTC) (Read 131171 times)

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #240 on:** 11/21/2020 05:17 pm »

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1330213587089022978

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #241 on:** 11/21/2020 05:17 pm »

Talking about orbit manoeuvres.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #242 on:** 11/21/2020 05:19 pm »

NSF coverage wrapping up.

Congratulations to SpaceX, ESA and NASA for the successful launch!

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #243 on:** 11/21/2020 05:21 pm »

https://twitter.com/jimbridenstine/status/1330214347260514309

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Congratulations to everyone that made today’s launch of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite possible! A fitting tribute to an incredible trailblazer in Earth science.

Yellowstone10 · « **Reply #244 on:** 11/21/2020 05:51 pm »

Spacecraft AOS Alaska!

https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1330221928179769344

scr00chy · « **Reply #245 on:** 11/21/2020 06:01 pm »

Quote from: Jeff Lerner on 11/21/2020 05:53 pm

The launch and first stage landing video was spectacular...best I’ve ever seen...so clear..

There have been better shots in the past. I've recently made a supercut of the best shots I could find from launch all the way to booster landing:

Jansen · « **Reply #246 on:** 11/21/2020 06:25 pm »

https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/1330222085533216774

ESA confirms the satellite has extended its solar panels to begin producing power.

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #247 on:** 11/21/2020 06:27 pm »

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1330219649699618816

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There’s something about witnessing 15 storeys of rocket plummeting back to earth and then landing. #SpaceX #NASA #Sentinel6

📷 for @superclusterhq

https://twitter.com/superclusterhq/status/1330226062329081856

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At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the press pool witnesses the Falcon 9 launch Sentinel-6 then return for a landing. Captured by @w00ki33 for Supercluster.

scr00chy · « **Reply #248 on:** 11/21/2020 06:34 pm »

What was the time of payload deployment? SpaceX website has incorrect information in the official timeline (says deployment was scheduled 1 second after SES-2).

EDIT: Nevermind, answer just appeared on my Twitter feed.

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1330232504670953478

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #249 on:** 11/21/2020 06:54 pm »

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1330237659466305545

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Falcon 9 launches Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich to orbit and the first stage rocket booster returns to Earth, completing SpaceX’s third West Coast land landing

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #250 on:** 11/21/2020 07:22 pm »

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1330244267307114497

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Falcon first stage returning to SLC-4 after a successful launch of Sentinel 6 from Vandenberg, Calif. #SpaceX

I will be adding this to my list of top five best remote camera images. 😁

Support my work: patreon.com/nextspaceflight

Edit to add:

https://twitter.com/superclusterhq/status/1330249680777867268

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Welcome back, Falcon 9.

Captured on a remotely placed camera during today's Sentinel-6 launch by @w00ki33 for Supercluster.

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #251 on:** 11/21/2020 07:33 pm »

https://twitter.com/superclusterhq/status/1330242469557121029

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Round trip composite image showing the #SpaceX Falcon 9 blasting off with Sentinel-6 and then returning home to Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Captured by @w00ki33 for Supercluster

SMS · « **Reply #252 on:** 11/21/2020 07:49 pm »

https://twitter.com/TSKelso/status/1330246266337583105

AirmanPika · « **Reply #253 on:** 11/21/2020 08:53 pm »

That was fun.

Rondaz · « **Reply #254 on:** 11/21/2020 09:37 pm »

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite in Earth Orbit, Mission Begins to Map Sea Levels

Anna Heiney Posted on November 21, 2020

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, launched at 9:17 a.m. PST (12:17 p.m. EST) on Nov. 21, 2020, from Space Launch Complex-4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.

Following launch, the SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage separated and returned to Earth for a vertical landing at VAFB. After arriving in orbit, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite separated from the rocket’s second stage and unfolded its twin sets of solar arrays. Ground controllers successfully acquired the satellite’s signal, and initial telemetry reports showed the spacecraft in good health. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will now undergo a series of exhaustive checks and calibrations before it starts collecting science data in a few months’ time.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is a U.S.-European collaboration and one of two satellites that compose the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission.

Agencies participating in this mission include the European Space Agency, the European Commission, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), SpaceX, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The launch was managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“NASA is but one of several partners involved in Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, but this satellite speaks to the very core of our mission,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Whether 800 miles above Earth with this remarkable spacecraft or traveling to Mars to look for signs of life, whether providing farmers with agricultural data or aiding first responders with our Disasters Program, we are tirelessly committed not just to learning and exploring, but to having an impact where it’s needed.”

The spacecraft is named in honor of the late Michael Freilich, former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, who was a leading figure in advancing ocean observations from space. Freilich passed away Aug. 5, 2020. His close family and friends attended the launch of the satellite that now carries his name.

Now in orbit, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will collect sea level measurements down to the centimeter for 90% of the world’s oceans. The world’s latest Earth-observing satellite will begin a five-and-a-half-year prime mission to collect the most accurate data yet on global sea level and how our oceans are rising in response to climate change. The mission also will collect precise data of atmospheric temperature and humidity that will help improve weather forecasts and climate models.

“The Earth is changing, and this satellite will help deepen our understanding of how,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “The changing Earth processes are affecting sea level globally, but the impact on local communities varies widely. International collaboration is critical to both understanding these changes and informing coastal communities around the world.”

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich contains a suite of instruments to support its science goals. A Radar Altimeter will bounce signals off the ocean surface. Sea surface height will be determined based on the time it takes each pulse to travel from the satellite to the ocean and back again.

An Advanced Microwave Radiometer will retrieve the amount of water vapor between the satellite and ocean, which affects the travel speed of radar pulses. Radio Occultation Antennas will measure the delay of radio signals between Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and global navigation satellites as they slice through different layers of the atmosphere.

Other onboard instruments will be used to precisely determine the satellite’s position, such as the Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) instrument. DORIS measures the radio signals from 55 global ground stations that compose the International DORIS service. The DORIS instrument aboard Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich measures the Doppler shift of the radio beacons’ frequencies to precisely determine its line-of-sight velocity. A Laser Retroreflector Array located on the Earth-facing plate of the spacecraft includes nine precisely shaped mirrors that reflect laser beams back to their point of origin on the ground. Also on the spacecraft are S-band and X-band antennas, and Solar Array supply power..

https://blogs.nasa.gov/sentinel-6/2020/11/21/sentinel-6-michael-freilich-satellite-in-earth-orbit-mission-begins-to-map-sea-levels/

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #255 on:** 11/21/2020 10:33 pm »

https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1330291027995930629

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Launch, Land, Reuse, Repeat. 80 still frames from my single remote camera setup for today's #SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch of Sentinel-6A, arranged for your viewing pleasure. (Thumbnail image is a composite made by stacking a landing and liftoff shot) @NASASpaceflight

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #256 on:** 11/21/2020 10:34 pm »

Launch photo from SpaceX website

Jansen · « **Reply #257 on:** 11/22/2020 12:37 am »

https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1330267454967255045

Fairing recovery in progress

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #258 on:** 11/22/2020 12:57 am »

Moderator:
I moved the substantial and continuing discussion of the NASA web cast covering this launch to the "party thread," which CAN also be used for such discussion.

ArbitraryConstant · « **Reply #259 on:** 11/22/2020 02:00 am »

The wikipedia page lists the inclination of Sentinel-6A as 66.0°. Does this mean this was a prograde launch? That seems unusual for Vandenberg. Does that mean they did a dogleg before turning prograde southwards along the Baja peninsula?

Why not do this launch from KSC? Inclination too high and it would run into the US east coast?