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Mission Update
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| Launch Date: | July 11, 2014 |
| Launch Site: | MARS Pad 0A at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA |
| Cygnus ISS Arrival: | July 15, 2014 |
Orbital has established July 11, 2014 as the targeted date for the launch of the Orb-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the second operational cargo resupply mission under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The targeted launch time from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on July 11 will be 1:40 p.m. (EDT).
The engineering team that is investigating the failure of an AJ26 engine during an acceptance test at Stennis Space Center recommended that certain inspections be performed on the two AJ26 engines that are currently integrated on the Antares rocket. These inspections were recently completed and program officials have cleared the rocket for flight.
Leading up to the launch, the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft will be mated to the rocket today. After the loading of the final time sensitive cargo and installation of the rocket’s payload fairing, Antares will be rolled out to the launch pad on July 9. A launch on July 11 will result in a rendezvous and berthing with the ISS on July 15. The Cygnus spacecraft will deliver 1,657 kg of cargo to the ISS and will be loaded with approximately 1,346 kg of material for disposal upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
An image gallery for the launch campaign is available here
Mission Description
Cygnus will be boosted into orbit by a two-stage Antares rocket from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The launch sequence will last about ten minutes from liftoff through the separation of Cygnus from the Antares vehicle.
Once in orbit, Cygnus will deploy its solar arrays and undergo initial check-out. The spacecraft will then conduct a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit to bring it within 4 km of the ISS prior to receiving authorization to autonomously rendezvous with the station. When the vehicle approaches to within 12 meters, the astronauts will use the station’s robotic arm to grapple Cygnus and berth it to the Harmony node of the station.
Cygnus is planned to remain berthed at the ISS for approximately 40 days during which time the station crew will unload cargo from Cygnus and subsequently load it with materials for disposal. At the end of the mission Cygnus will depart the station and reenter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Quelle: Orbital
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Update: 10.07.2014
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Orbital-2 Launch Moved to July 12
Orbital Sciences Corp. has postponed the launch of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station until 1:14 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 12, due to weather conditions that delayed the roll-out of the Antares rocket to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Roll-out of the rocket has been rescheduled for Thursday morning.
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NASA Ames Launches Smartphone Upgrade and CubeSat Aboard Orbital Rocket
NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, will launch a variety of experiments into space aboard NASA's second commercial cargo resupply flight of the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. These experiments include free-flying robots equipped with a smartphone and a small satellite with a de-orbiting device, called an "exo-brake."
Orbital, of Dulles, Virginia, will launch its Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft at 10:40 a.m. PDT Friday, July 11, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. NASA TV will air a comprehensive video feed of launch preparations and other footage related to the mission beginning at 9:30 a.m. Launch coverage on NASA TV will begin at 10 a.m. With a launch on July 11, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft will arrive at the space station on Tuesday, July 15.
This will be the second of eight planned cargo missions by Orbital Sciences for NASA under the agency's $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company. Cargo resupply from 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 to the only laboratory in microgravity.
Smart SPHERES is a prototype free-flying space robot based on NASA’s Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES). NASA has been testing the Smart SPHERES on the space station since 2011. During this summer, astronauts will upgrade these existing space robots to use Google’s "Project Tango" smartphone, which features a custom 3-D sensor and multiple cameras. NASA will then use the Smart SPHERES to test free-flying 3-D mapping and navigation inside the space station. NASA is developing the Smart SPHERES to perform work on the space station that requires mobile sensing, such as environmental surveys to monitor levels of radiation, lighting and air quality. They also will be used to monitor inventory and conduct experiments. The development and testing of Smart SPHERES is funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
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NASA’s Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) equipped with a smartphone.
Image Credit: NASA/Ames
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TechEdSat-4 is an autonomous, free-flying spacecraft that will demonstrate two new technologies including a system to provide satellite-to-satellite communications and information about the spacecraft's health, as well as an upgraded exo-brake device to demonstrate a passive deorbiting system capable of accurately re-entering Earth's atmosphere. The exo-brake is an exo-atmospheric passive braking device, like a specially designed parachute that operates at extremely low pressures, which will eventually enable small samples to be returned from the space station or other orbital platforms. In addition, this technology is intended to help enable future small or nanosatellite missions to the surface of Mars and other planetary bodies in the solar system. TechEdSat-4 will be the first NASA satellite to jettison into orbit from the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer, and is a three unit (3U) CubeSat satellite measuring 30x10x10 centimeters (approximately 12x4x4 inches) and weighing approximately five pounds. TechEdSat-4 was developed, integrated and tested at Ames by student interns from San Jose State University in California and the University of Idaho. TechEdSat-4 is funded by Ames and the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The total cost was less than $50k in parts because the team primarily used commercial off-the-shelf hardware and simplified the design and mission objectives.
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TechEdSat-3p deploys from the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer aboard the International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 11.07.2014
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Orbital-2 Launch Coverage
At about 3:30 p.m. on July 10, the Antares rocket was raised to its vertical position at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Launch Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Antares is scheduled to launch Saturday, July 12 at 1:14 p.m. EDT. The rocket will carry an unmanned Cygnus spacecraft — both provided by Orbital Science Corp. — loaded with 3,293 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station.
Image: The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft aboard, stands at Launch Pad-0A, Thursday, July 10, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 12.07.2014
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SpaceX readies for Monday launch attempt
It's a 70 percent chance of favorable weather during the launch window opening at 9:21 a.m. Monday.
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SpaceX today test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket's engine in preparation for the planned 9:21 a.m. Monday launch of commercial satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Air Force meteorologists predict a 70 percent chance of favorable weather during the window running to 11:55 a.m.
The launch attempt comes about three weeks after two countdowns scrubbed and a third was postponed due to technical and weather problems. The mission has experienced delays since May.
It's the first of two SpaceX launches for Obrcomm Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of machine-to-machine networks that track products shipped around the world and monitor the health of heavy machinery.
The 224-foot Falcon 9 rocket is carrying the first six of 17 Orbcomm Generation 2 satellites upgrading the company's existing constellation in low Earth orbit.
After launch, SpaceX will try to steer the Falcon 9's first stage to a soft landing in the Atlantic Ocean for recovery by ships, a step toward developing a reusable booster.
Quelle: Florida Today
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SpaceX conducts another Static Fire on next Falcon 9 v1.1
SpaceX has conducted what is hopefully the final major milestone ahead of their ORBCOMM OG2 mission from Cape Canaveral. The Static Fire test, conducted at 3pm local time on Friday, should – pending a review – realign the the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket with a launch of the satellites in window that opens at 09:21 local time on Monday.
SpaceX Static Fire:
It’s been a relatively troublesome flow for this Falcon 9, as much as the tweaking on the ground is a far more preferable scenario than having to deal with them half way through first stage ascent.
Finding such issues with the rocket are usually discovered during major elements of a vehicle’s flow, such as testing at the McGregor test facility in Texas, or at the Cape.
Quelle: NSThe Cape testing, conducted inside the Hanger and out on the SLC-40 Pad, is designed to clear the rocket for launch.
One of the primary elements to ensure the rocket is ready to go in a Falcon 9 flow is the Static Fire.
Also known as the Hot Fire test, the effort relates to ensuring that the pad’s fueling systems – and the launch vehicle – function properly in a fully operational environment, with numerous requirements to be successfully proven via such a test, such as the engine ignition and shut down commands, which have to operate as designed, and that the Merlin 1D engines perform properly during start-up.
Tasks also include a full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown operations, engine ignition operations and testing of the pad’s high volume water deluge system.
The Static Test provides a dress rehearsal for the actual launch, with controllers first conducting a poll to allow for the loading of Falcon 9′s RP-1 propellant with liquid oxygen oxidizer two hours and thirty five minutes before T-0.
This was followed with fuel and Thrust Vector Control (TVC) bleeding on the second stage, performed at T-1 hour.
At T-13 minutes, a final flight readiness poll was required, with a final hold point at T-11 minutes.
Per the countdown procedures, the tasks then entered the terminal count ten minutes before ignition, followed by the launch vehicle being transferred to internal power at four minutes and forty six seconds before T-0.
The Flight Termination System (FTS), used to destroy the rocket in the event of a problem during an actual launch, was armed three minutes and eleven seconds before launch, and seven seconds later oxidizer topping was concluded.
Pressurization of the propellant tanks followed, and while a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) – which are no longer required for the Falcon 9 – would have concluded the test at around T-5 seconds, the Static Fire continued the count through to ignition.
A short burst of the Merlin ID engines on the core stage of the F9 then took place – noted per L2 coverage – at 3pm local time, which allows for validation data to be gained on the health of the vehicle and pad systems.
With the required engine and vehicle data collected, detanking operations followed for the rest of the day, followed by the lowering on to the Transporter Erector and rollback to the hanger.
While the Static Fire needs to be reviewed by controllers, a thumbs up from engineers will confirm the vehicle has gotten past her previous issues – one of which related to the problem surrounding the rocket’s helium pressurization system that scrubbed a previous Static Fire.
Notably, that previous test allowed SpaceX to attempt to launch this Falcon 9 v1.1 last month. However, following a second stage issue on the first attempt and a weather scrub on the second, the following day brought up another hardware issue.
While the attempt was a long shot – based on the poor weather throughout what was an extended launch window – a problem with what was described by L2 sources as a TVC actuator on the rocket’s first stage was classed as a “potential concern”, resulting in a scrub being called for the day.
With another element coming into play – namely the Eastern Range and its requirement for a maintenance period – SpaceX decided it would be prudent to realign the launch into July.
With July 14 looking good, a positive review of the Static Fire test will be followed by a Launch Readiness Review (LRR) to confirm Monday’s attempt.
Monday’s attempt has a window that ranges from 09:21 to 11:55 local time, with a back up date on Wednesday, which has its launch window set for 08:36 through to 11:09 local time.
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Update: 13.07.2014
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Orbital-2 Launch Coverage
Orb-2′s Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Launch Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Sunday, July 13 at 12:52 p.m. EDT. Cygnus will carry some 3,300 pounds of cargo to the station, including crew food and supplies, hardware, and scientific equipment and experiments.
Wallops' Weather Office reports that the forecast is 90-percent favorable for Sunday's launch.
NASA Television coverage of Sunday’s launch will begin at noon.
Quelle: NASA
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Orb-2 Latest Forecast: Still 90% ‘Go’
The Weather Office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia reports that the forecast remains 90-percent favorable for the Orb-2 Antares rocket launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Launch Pad 0A at Wallops. Launch is scheduled for July 13 at 12:52 p.m. EDT.
The main weather concern for the launch appears to be a very slight chance of convective clouds (cumulus) near the vehicle path.
High pressure begins to build off the Northeast coast this evening, while an upper-level trough starts to dig over the Great Lakes by Sunday morning. High pressure off the eastern seaboard will remain in control of the Wallops region on Sunday afternoon with dry and slightly breezy conditions, as an upper-level disturbance and cold front moves into the western portion of the Mid-Atlantic. The upper-level disturbance and cold front will move toward the Wallops region on Monday, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms by early afternoon Monday, and a better chance of showers and storms by Monday evening.
Should the launch slip to Monday, July 14, the current forecast reports 70-percent favorable weather. Weather concerns for a Monday launch are, at present, convective clouds, disturbed weather and wind.
Quelle: Orbital
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Update: 13.45 MESZ
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Update: 14.07.2014
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Quelle: AS
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Update: 19.45 MESZ
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Orbital Successfully Launches Antares Rocket Carrying Cygnus Spacecraft on Cargo Resupply Mission to International Space Station
-- Company Completes Fourth Successful Antares Launch in Past 15 Months --
-- Cygnus Operating as Planned Early in Mission; Arrival at Space Station
Scheduled for Early Morning on July 16 --
(Dulles, VA 13 July 2014) – Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced it successfully launched its AntaresTM medium-class rocket carrying a CygnusTM cargo logistics spacecraft, beginning the company’s second operational cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific experiments to the ISS as part of its $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. More information about the CRS mission is available at http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-2/.
Lift-off of the Antares rocket occurred today at 12:52 p.m. (EDT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A located NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. Following a 10-minute ascent, the Cygnus spacecraft was successfully deployed and placed into its intended orbit of 120 x 180 miles (190 x 290 kilometers) above the Earth, inclined at 51.6 degrees to the equator. Orbital’s engineering team has confirmed that reliable communications had been established and that the solar arrays are fully deployed, providing the necessary electrical power to command the spacecraft.
The launch of Orbital’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft will culminate in rendezvous and berthing with the ISS on July 16 at approximately 6:39 a.m. (EDT). Cygnus will deliver 3,669 pounds (1,664 kilograms) of cargo to the Expedition 40 astronauts and remain attached to the station approximately 30 days before departing with approximately 2,950 pounds (1,340 kilograms) of disposable cargo for a safe, destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean approximately five days later.
“Today’s mission was the fourth successful launch of Antares in the past 15 months and the third deployment of Cygnus in less than a year,” said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “So far, our second operational CRS mission is off to a great start with Cygnus operating exactly as anticipated at this early stage of the mission. We are very pleased to be a reliable partner with NASA to meet their need for reliable, regularly scheduled cargo resupply for the ISS. I salute the combined NASA and Orbital team for its hard work to get us to this point, and look forward to completing another safe and successful mission for our NASA customer.”
Under the CRS contract with NASA, Orbital will use Antares and Cygnus to deliver approximately 44,000 pounds (20,000 kilograms) of cargo to the ISS over eight missions through 2016. For these missions, 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.
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 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.
Quelle: Orbital
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Antares rocket boosts commercial Cygnus cargo ship into orbit
An Orbital Sciences Antares rocket lifts off from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia's Eastern Shore Sunday, kicking off a space station cargo delivery mission. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corp.)
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An Orbital Sciences Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus cargo capsule thundered away from the Virginia coast Sunday and streaked into orbit, kicking off a three-day flight to deliver more than 1.5 tons of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
After a string of delays caused by stormy weather, conflicts with other flights and an engine test failure, the rocket's two Russian-built first stage engines, supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne, ignited with a roaring rush of fiery exhaust at 12:52 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), generating 734,000 pounds of thrust.
The 133-foot-tall rocket quickly climbed away from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility, arcing away to the southeast through a partly cloudy sky and putting on a dramatic Sunday show for area residents and tourists jamming local roads and beaches.
Burning oxygen and RP-1 kerosene rocket fuel, the Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 first stage engines fired for nearly four minutes, boosting the rocket out of the dense lower atmosphere and into the orbital plane of the space station.
After a short coast, the rocket's ATK solid-fuel second stage motor ignited at an altitude of about 106 miles and fired for two minutes and 17 seconds or so to put the spacecraft into an initial orbit with a high point, or apogee, of about 185 miles and a low point, or perigee, of around 125 miles.
Two minutes later, the Cygnus cargo ship was released from the second stage to fly on its own. The spacecraft's two solar panels unfolded and locked in place a few moments later, setting the stage for a series of carefully planned rendezvous rocket firings to catch up with the space station.
"We have completed the first burn," said Frank Culbertson, a former shuttle commander who serves as Orbital's vice president and general manager of advanced programs. "We deployed the solar arrays, we're getting full power, and all the systems on the spacecraft are operating nominally. So we're very excited about the fact that we're in orbit and we're headed to the station. ... We're really looking forward to the rendezvous."
If all goes well, the uncrewed Cygnus cargo craft will reach the lab complex early Wednesday, pulling up to within about 30 feet and then standing by while the lab's robot arm, operated by station commander Steve Swanson, locks on to pull it in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.
"Nicely done @Orbital_Sciences -- looking forward to #Cygnus arrival on Wednesday!" station astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted from orbit.
"Thanks Reid! We are coming your way -- carefully," Orbital tweeted back.
This is Orbital's second operational station resupply mission under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA that calls for eight flights through 2016 to deliver 20 tons of cargo. SpaceX holds a similar resupply contract, valued at $1.6 billion, for 12 flights to deliver some 44,000 pounds of equipment and supplies.
The commercial contracts were awarded to make up for the lost payload capability of NASA's space shuttle, which was retired in 2011. SpaceX has carried out three operational resupply missions to date with two more flights on tap in September and December and three flights planned next year. Orbital plans its third mission in October with two flights on tap in 2015.
William Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations, said the agency plans to announce a second round of contracts in the December-January timeframe to continue commercial resupply operations past 2016. NASA hopes to operate the space station through 2024, if not longer, and keeping the lab supplied is critical.
For the current mission, known as Orb-2, the Cygnus cargo ship was loaded with 3,293 pounds of crew supplies, including food, spare parts and other station hardware, science equipment, spacewalk components and computer hardware.
The research cargo includes a variety of student experiments, supplies for NASA's Human Research Facility lab rack, igniters for the station's combustion test facility and a Japanese experiment designed to study convection in the microgravity environment of space.
Also on board: 28 small satellites -- nanosats -- built by Planet Labs of San Francisco, the third "flock" of spacecraft launched to date for testing in a commercial venture to continuously photograph the Earth. Four other nanosats also are on board, including one built by NASA to test techniques for returning small experiment samples to the ground.
The Cygnus spacecraft will remain attached to the station for about a month. After it is unloaded and re-packed with trash and no-longer-needed equipment, the lab's robot arm will unberth the cargo ship and release it from the station.
Before falling back to Earth and burning up in the atmosphere, the cargo ship will spend a few extra days in orbit for tests of new rendezvous equipment and procedures designed to allow the craft to remain in orbit for extended periods.
NASA originally hoped to launch the Orb-2 mission in May, but the flight was delayed to early June because of conflicts with other launches. Then, on May 22, an Antares first-stage engine being test fired for a flight next year suffered a catastrophic failure. The Orb-2 mission was put on hold pending a failure investigation.
The analysis is not yet complete, but the engines used Sunday were cleared for flight after additional boroscope inspections and a review of earlier test firings. Orbital then scheduled launch for Friday, but the flight slipped to Sunday because of stormy weather that interrupted ground processing.
Quelle: CBS
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