Cygnus launch Sunday(12-6-15)

[SuperFastJellyfish]

Livestream on NASA TV and on ULA's Ustream.

Launch scheduled for 4:44:56 pm EST

Atlas V 401 w/ Cygnus on the pad:

From spaceflight101.com :

Quote

Sunday’s 30-minute launch window opens at 21:44:56 UTC and meteorologists are predicting a 40% chance of cooperative weather. The front that had been the focus of the past several days will shift north but remain clear of Central Florida, though the pressure gradient in the area will continue to bring east-northeasterly winds with gusts to the mid-20-knot range. Winds may die down in the afternoon and evening, but the timing will be hard to predict. Therefore, high ground winds and cumulus clouds will be the main concerns for Sunday.

In case Cygnus gets off the pad on Sunday, the spacecraft will make its rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday. Should the launch slip to Monday or beyond, Cygnus is facing a traffic jam in orbit and will have to loiter in an independent orbit for a period of days before a clear slot in the Station’s visiting vehicle schedule comes up.

More info here --->  http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/12/cygnus-return-atlas-v-launch/

Edited December 6, 2015 by SuperFastJellyfish
da scrubz

[brienne]

More infos about Cygnus launching.

Atlas ascent profile and configuration, times,  ...

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/astro-pi-launch-tonight/

[SuperFastJellyfish]

50 minutes until the launch window opens up, but only a 10% chance that it will launch today due to weather.

[Mitchz95]

Launch time extended to 6:10. Still a 90% chance the weather will be too rough.

EDIT: Make that 6:25.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Mitchz95

[Frida Space]

Scrub for today

Next opportunity tomorrow 5:33:11 pm EST, 30-minute window.

But again, 70% chances of weather violations (cumulus clouds, ground wind, showers, brocken and overcast decks at 2,000, 10,000 and 24,000 feet).

Edited December 3, 2015 by Frida Space

[_Augustus_]

Noo! It was scrubbed...

[njmksr]

17 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

Noo! It was scrubbed...

Tomorrow, at 5:33:11 PM EST, there will be another launch window.

While it may not accomplish anything, I would like there to be 2 twitter tags trending by tomorrow.

One, #PrayForCygnus, is pretty self-explanatory.

The other, #BringPeanuts, is based on the JPL 'lucky peanut' tradition. 

This is a challenge to the entire KSP community. Bring Peanuts, and get these trending.

[Nick481]

I was going to buy the tickets for the saturn v center viewing (5 miles away) but thought traffic would suck really bad getting there and I was too busy today. However, now that it is tomorrow and if the go percentage is high I might do it. I live about 30-45 minutes away from cape canaveral and usually watch launches from my front yard, but I did go to see a falcon 9 launch last year at like 1 a.m. That was really cool. Set off car alarms from 10 miles away. I can't wait for the falcon heavy and the SLS!

[Kryten]

They're looking at 70% chance of a scrub for tomorrow's opportunity, so probably not worth it.

[Nick481]

10 minutes ago, Kryten said:

They're looking at 70% chance of a scrub for tomorrow's opportunity, so probably not worth it.

Doesn't surprise me looking at the forecast. Might just not be the day for it. Hopefully things clear up.

[Mitchz95]

Everything looking good. Launch in seven minutes!

EDIT: Permission to launch has been granted!

Edited December 4, 2015 by Mitchz95

[Frida Space]

Countdown has restarted at T-4 minutes and counting. All systems - weather too - remains go.

UPDATE

NO GO.

Hold due to issue. Countdown recycled to T-4 minutes and counting.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Frida Space

[Kartoffelkuchen]

Countdown on hold again, there seems to be an issue or something

[Delta_8930]

We're now holding at T-4 minutes. It will be a 10 minute hold. Next launch attempt is 5:48:12 EST.

[Frida Space]

10 minute hold. New T-0 at 5:48:12 EST, third of four launch opportunities for today.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Frida Space

[Delta_8930]

I'm pretty impressed with how Atlas V has a 30 minute launch window. The answer lies in the Centaur upper stage. The Centaur is very versatile and has a lot of extra performance in this flight, since it only needs to get into LEO. Centaurs have done missions ranging from GTO to interplanetary trajectories.

[Frida Space]

Yea, Atlas V is OP for ISS launches, at least with something like Cygnus.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Frida Space

[Mitchz95]

This is a bigger version of Cygnus, isn't it? Needs a beefier launcher to get to ISS.

[Frida Space]

Just now, Mitchz95 said:

This is a bigger version of Cygnus, isn't it? Needs a beefier launcher to get to ISS.

They chose Atlas because the Antares rocket is still being redesigned with new engines. As soon as the new Antares is ready (should be next mission), they're going to resume normal launches.

[Delta_8930]

Yep. The pressurized module is longer than the 1st gen Cygnus. There were also upgrades to the propellant module to make it lighter and the Dutch-made solar panels were replaced with Orbital ATK's "Ultraflex" circular solar array.

[_Augustus_]

Just now, Mitchz95 said:

This is a bigger version of Cygnus, isn't it? Needs a beefier launcher to get to ISS.

Yes, but Atlas V allows it to carry 2 more tons of cargo than normal.

I really hope that this launch goes well, it will be a big morale boost for ULA and Orbital ATK.

[Kryten]

2 minutes ago, Mitchz95 said:

This is a bigger version of Cygnus, isn't it? Needs a beefier launcher to get to ISS.

Antares with the -XL upper stage is already enough, this one was built to go up on one.

[Delta_8930]

The upgraded Antares 230 with RD-181 engines will also allow enhanced Cygnus to carry more cargo than the original Antares, but it is much less powerful than Atlas V.

And we're ready to launch!

Edited December 4, 2015 by Delta_8930

[Frida Space]

LD has given permission to launch.

[RocketPilot573]

Go for launch! Again...