Rocket Launching on Maiden Flight from Virginia Today

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm rapidly losing faith/interest.

[Unorthodox]

Eh, can't always have good weather.   Which is a question why to build a launch facility there...but, whatever.   

[Buster's Uncle]

It's a political move, of course.  Launches are visible where the most people are.

Strong Winds Postpone New US Rocket's Launch Debut
By Tariq Malik | SPACE.com – 18 hrs ago...


The launch debut of a new privately built rocket will have to wait at least one more day after strong winds thwarted an attempted liftoff on Saturday (April 20).

The unmanned Antares rocket was poised to launch into orbit Saturday afternoon from a new seaside pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility along Virginia's Eastern Shore when the foul weather intervened. The rocket's next chance to launch occurs Sunday (April 21) at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).

Orbital Sciences had hoped to launch Antares at 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday, but unacceptably strong winds in the upper atmosphere — which could pose a risk to the rocket in mid-flight — prompted them to delay liftoff by an hour at first, then call off the attempt altogether. [LaunchPad Photos: 1st Antares Rocket Ready to Fly]

It is the second delay in three days for Antares' debut launch. A minor equipment glitch led Orbital officials to call off a launch try on Wednesday (April 17) when a data cable at the pad separated from the rocket earlier than planned.

Built by the Dulles, Va.-based spaceflight firm Orbital Sciences Corp., the Antares rocket is a 13-story booster designed to launch the company's unmanned Cygnus spacecraft on cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station. Orbital has a $1.9 billion contract to provide at least eight cargo delivery flights to the station using Cygnus and Antares.



For this first flight, the Antares rocket will not be carrying an active Cygnus spacecraft into orbit. Instead, the rocket is topped with a cylindrical "mass simulator" that mimics the shape and weight of an actual Cygnus vehicle, officials said. The mockup is also equipped with 70 sensors to measure the effects of launch on an Antares vehicle.

Orbital has also added three tiny NASA satellites — coffee-cup-size Phonesats — and a small commercial cubesat called Dove-1 to the mass simulator for this test flight. The miniature satellites will be deployed in orbit after launch, Orbital officials said.

NASA's Phonesats are experiments designed to test how well commercial smartphones can be used as the main computers on cheap satellites.

Orbital Sciences is one of two American spaceflight companies with NASA contracts for  commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station. The other firm is Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., which has a $1.6 billion contract to fly at least 12 cargo delivery missions to the space station using its Falcon 9 rockets and robotic Dragon space capsules.

SpaceX launched its first test flight to the station in May 2012 and has flown two official cargo deliveries since then. NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011 and is relying on private spacecraft to keep the space station stocked with supplies. The space agency also plans to begin flying American astronauts to the station on commercial spacecraft by 2017.

http://news.yahoo.com/strong-winds-postpone-us-rockets-launch-debut-205323747.html

[Buster's Uncle]

New Private Rocket Set to Launch Today After Delays
By Tariq Malik | SPACE.com – 3 hrs ago...


A U.S. spaceflight company is hoping the third time's the charm in order to launch a brand-new rocket into space on its maiden flight today (April 21).

After two delayed launched attempts, the privately built Antares rocket is once again poised to blast off from a seaside pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Liftoff is set for 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).

You can watch the Antares rocket launch live on SPACE.com beginning 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT), courtesy of NASA's webcast.

Today's launch attempt will be the third in a week for Antares, which was built by the Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. A minor mechanical glitch thwarted a launch try on Wednesday (April 17) just minutes before liftoff. Strong winds prevented and an attempted launch on Saturday. [LaunchPad Photos: Antares Rocket Ready to Fly]

The Antares rocket is designed to launch Orbital's unmanned Cygnus spacecraft on cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station for NASA. Orbital has a $1.9 billion contract to provide at least eight cargo deliveries using Cygnus and Antares, but first the company wants to make sure the rocket will perform as expected.

"Obviously we would like to have gone Wednesday. But going through the prelaunch procedures a couple of times now is great experience for our launch team," Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski told SPACE.com in  an email. "Practice now will pay dividends later when we are down to a small launch window, less than five minutes, for our [space station] resupply missions later this year."



Orbital Sciences has a three-hour window for today's  attempted launch. The 13-story Antares rocket will lift off from the new Launch Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the southern tip of Wallops Island, Va., where it shares land with NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is based. The NASA center has long been the home of the agency's small sounding rocket launches and balloon science projects.

"We have also been pleased with the performance of the vehicle and the launch facility. We have not been working any technical issues, which has been encouraging," Beneski said. "That's remarkable since this is a first time launch for the rocket and the pad."

Today's launch attempt will not carry a full Cygnus spacecraft into orbit. Instead, the rocket is topped with a mockup that will mimic the weight of an actual cargo ship. The rocket is also carrying three coffee cup-size Phonesat satellites — named Alexander, Graham and Bell — as part of a space technology experiment for NASA. A fourth nanosatellite, called Dove 1, is also being flown for a commercial customer, Orbital officials said.

Orbital is one of two companies with NASA contracts to deliver space station cargo. The Hawthorne, Calif.-based firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) also has a $1.6 billion deal for at least 12 cargo missions using its Falcon 9 rockets and unmanned Dragon space capsules.

NASA's space shuttle fleet retired in 2011, so the space agency is relying on Orbital Sciences and SpaceX to fly American cargo to the International Space Station. NASA officials also hope to launch American astronauts to the station using private spaceships by 2017. Currently, the U.S. space agency relies on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to ferry crews to and from the station.

There is a chance that observers along  much of the U.S. East Coast could spot the Antares rocket soaring toward space during today's launch test. NASA has advised local observers to watch the launch from its Wallops Flight Facility Visitors Center or the nearby Assateague National Seashore. Maps and graphics released by Orbital officials, however, suggest the launch could be seen from as far north as Portland, Maine, and as far south as Charleston, S.C., weather permitting.

http://news.yahoo.com/private-rocket-set-launch-today-delays-121300846.html

[Geo]

The suspension must be rockin' them...

[Buster's Uncle]

Why would a rocket have a suspension?

[Geo]

Oh, must have meant "suspense" .

[Buster's Uncle]

You don't know what you meant?

[Unorthodox]

Successful Launch for Antares

Anyway, great success, both the launch and the smoke and mirrors...

[gwillybj]

Cheers for them. Hurrah! Hopeful for many more to come.

[Buster's Uncle]

What was the first stage burning?  The drive flame struck me as mighty yellow and there wasn't much of a contrail.

[gwillybj]

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Antares_Fact.pdf
Stage 1: Two Aerojet AJ26-62 engines with independent thrust vectoring, liquid oxygen/kerosene fueled.

[Buster's Uncle]

Kerosene.  I thought so.

Why liquid hydrogen on the really big boosters and kerosene on the small ones?

[Unorthodox]

Whatever. 

Stage one is the old Russian moon rocket, stage 2 is old Peacekeeper ICBM.  They can modify and call them what they want, but them's the facts. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Why liquid hydrogen on the really big boosters and kerosene on the small ones?