SpaceX Falcon 9 : NASA DART : Vandenberg : Nov. 23/24, 2021

[Rondaz]

NASA's DART Mission Will Move Mountains In Space

[Rondaz]

Next Milestone Complete on DART Spacecraft as Launch Date Nears

Linda Herridge Posted on November 18, 2021

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft was attached to its payload adapter on Nov. 11 inside the SpaceX Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. An integrated team of workers with NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), SpaceX, and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) completed the work in preparation for a late November launch.

DART will be the first mission to test technologies for preventing a hazardous asteroid from impacting Earth. DART’s target asteroid is not a threat to Earth, but the mission will prove that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and kinetically impact it.

“Mating the payload to the adapter is a very important milestone for the mission since it is the critical interface between the spacecraft and launch vehicle, where the two come together and need to separate cleanly to send the spacecraft on its planetary defense journey,” said Marisa Wyssling-Horn, integration engineer with LSP.

DART was lifted from its processing stand and lowered onto the launch vehicle payload adapter. Measuring just 24 inches in diameter, this is the first time that this smaller size adapter is being used. The team then mated the electrical connectors between the spacecraft and the adapter. Finally, the integrated stack of spacecraft and adapter was secured to the payload attach fitting. The mate process took about a day to complete.

“It is also an exciting milestone since it is the first time that the full team, which had been working together for years, came together in person on a major operation,” Wyssling-Horn said.

Final closeouts will occur over the next two weeks in preparation for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg during a launch window that opens at 10:21 p.m. PST, Nov. 23 (1:21 a.m. EST, Nov. 24). Next up, DART will be encapsulated in the payload fairing and attached to the Falcon 9 rocket to prepare for rollout to the launch pad.

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory has been directed to manage the DART mission for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. The agency provides support for the mission from several centers, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX is the rocket provider for the DART launch.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/dart/2021/11/18/next-milestone-complete-on-dart-spacecraft-as-launch-date-nears/

[markbike528cbx]

Went past SLC-4E on an Amtrak train 1650 PST Nov 18.
 Falcon 9 was vertical on launch erector. 
It was _very_ dim, but no payload fairing was seen.

[zubenelgenubi]

Went past SLC-4E on an Amtrak train 1650 PST Nov 18.
 Falcon 9 was vertical on launch erector. 
It was _very_ dim, but no payload fairing was seen.

Yes, we expect the Static Fire will be performed without the payload attached.  SF should be soon!

[scr00chy]

Static fire was supposed to happen yesterday, but I guess it got delayed. So maybe today?

https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1461139079270215683

[vaporcobra]

Static fire completed this morning.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1461791389260333062

[SPKirsch]

https://twitter.com/SpaceOffshore/status/1461847453980893185

Of Course I Still Love You droneship is about to depart the Port of Long Beach for the DART mission. Tug Scorpius is towing.

[SPKirsch]

https://twitter.com/SpaceOffshore/status/1462065973385740298

OCISLY droneship departed Long Beach overnight for the DART mission.

Tug Scorpius is towing OCISLY 652 km downrange to the LZ.

[Ken the Bin]

This generic "Hazardous Operations" NGA notice looks like it is probably for this launch.

200443Z NOV 21
NAVAREA XII 659/21(18,21).
EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
CALIFORNIA.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS:
   A. 0543Z TO 0702Z DAILY 24 THRU 26 NOV
      IN AREA BOUND BY
      34-40N 120-40W, 34-40N 120-25W,
      34-09N 120-19W, 33-55N 120-20W,
      33-40N 120-23W, 33-40N 120-25W,
      34-17N 120-38W.   
   B. 0543Z TO 0706Z DAILY 24 THRU 26 NOV
      IN AREA BOUND BY
      29-35N 119-38W, 28-06N 119-37W,
      27-12N 119-27W, 27-26N 118-30W,
      28-43N 118-58W, 29-35N 119-28W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 260806Z NOV 21.

[jcm]

Re questions about the parking orbit: there's a trajectory now on JPL Horizons.
It implies a 230 x 300 km x 64.7 deg parking orbit  (J2000 rather than TEME) followed by a burn to 263 x -135281 km x 64.7
(C3 of 6.52 km2/s2).

[illectro]

If that inclination is correct then the 2nd stage is going to need to make a ~20 degree turn. (Based on the location of the landing barge)

[LouScheffer]

If that inclination [64.7^o ] is correct then the 2nd stage is going to need to make a ~20 degree turn.

Don't think so.  From Visual Satellite Observer's website:

Vandenberg is located on the central western coast of California at approximately 34.4 degrees North latitude. Launch azimuth is constrained to between 147 and 201 degrees, though sub-orbital launches are allowed up to 281 degrees. Satellite inclinations between 56 and 104 degrees are accomplished at Vandenberg.

[illectro]

Don't think so.

I should clarify, that the turn is required because the 1st stage ASDS location forces an launch azimuth of ~170degrees, requiring the second stage to turn after separation.

[LouScheffer]

Don't think so.

I should clarify, that the turn is required because the 1st stage ASDS location forces an launch azimuth of ~170degrees, requiring the second stage to turn after separation.

Certainly looks like it.  I'm guessing they don't want to fly over the channel islands.  However, from an energy point of view, it would make more sense to turn as soon as the clear the islands, then station the ASDS closer to Mexico.  But maybe their first stage does not know how to do that, and there is sufficient performance do the turn with the second stage (according to LSP, Falcon 9 can put 2535 kg to C3=7, but Dart only masses 610 kg).   The losses from a 20^o turn at staging velocity should be well within this margin.

[SpaceFinnOriginal]

Re questions about the parking orbit: there's a trajectory now on JPL Horizons.
It implies a 230 x 300 km x 64.7 deg parking orbit  (J2000 rather than TEME) followed by a burn to 263 x -135281 km x 64.7
(C3 of 6.52 km2/s2).

Is 'parking orbit' actually means deployment orbit?

[zubenelgenubi]

Re questions about the parking orbit: there's a trajectory now on JPL Horizons.
It implies a 230 x 300 km x 64.7 deg parking orbit  (J2000 rather than TEME) followed by a burn to 263 x -135281 km x 64.7
(C3 of 6.52 km2/s2).

Is 'parking orbit' actually means deployment orbit?

Yes


November 24 UTC is scheduled to be an orbital launch "three-fer".
This launch;
Prichal from Baikonur;
(likely) ChinaSat-6D from Xichang;
Fangzhou-2F from Jiuquan.

If one allows a 24 hour period beginning with the DART launch, a fourth orbital launch is scheduled: EKS #5 from Plesetsk.

[lenny97]

https://twitter.com/Raul74Cz/status/1462538356626272257

[Jim]

Re questions about the parking orbit: there's a trajectory now on JPL Horizons.
It implies a 230 x 300 km x 64.7 deg parking orbit  (J2000 rather than TEME) followed by a burn to 263 x -135281 km x 64.7
(C3 of 6.52 km2/s2).

Is 'parking orbit' actually means deployment orbit?

No, parking orbit is after 2nd stage first burn and before restart.  Deployment is after 2nd burn and is not an earth orbit.

[Rondaz]

LIVE | NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) investigation and engineering news conference

[Rondaz]

Two departures from the Port of Long Beach overnight for the DART mission.

GO Quest as droneship support for OCISLY - first West Coast mission.

NRC Quest for fairing recovery.

https://twitter.com/SpaceOffshore/status/1462475924398649352