Vandenberg AFB Canyon Fire

[Kryten]

I've got good news and bad news; the good news is the second fire seems to be contained, after reaching about 200 acres in extent. The first fire also seems to still be contained.

The bad news is there's a third fire, on the base property north of Lompoc prison. I can't find a good map showing south base v. north base, but I think the area involved is the on the southern edge of north base. The fire is about 30 acres and moving south.

[Jovus]

15 hours ago, Kryten said:

IThe bad news is there's a third fire, on the base property north of Lompoc prison. I can't find a good map showing south base v. north base, but I think the area involved is the on the southern edge of north base. The fire is about 30 acres and moving south.

I hope some point soon they find out what keeps causing these fires.

Or, if it's arson, catch the stand-up guy and make him pay.

[Kryten]

They're pretty sure the second was a downed power line, and given the location it looks pretty likely for the third too.

The original fire is 100% contained, and south base is starting to become operational again. The latest update didn't mention the latter two fires, but presumably they are also considered 100% contained. Should just be mopping-up to do now, as long as more lines don't come down.

[Rybo]

On 9/23/2016 at 0:12 AM, mikegarrison said:

Passing the torch may not be quite the ideal choice of words in this instance.

Haha I didn't even think of that.

[Rybo]

@Kryten Everything north of Ocean Ave is North Base and likewise everything south of Ocean is South Base. The prison is southeast of North Base right here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6794839,-120.5130258,14.99z

I talked to my supervisor on the phone this morning (I'm still on vacation, just catching up) who said that they think the third fire was caused by the second fire. I don't fully understand how since the two locations are at least 3 miles apart. Regular news reports are saying it was also a downed power line which seems much more plausible to me. The Santa Lucia gate (what we all call "the prison gate") is closed to all traffic. Luckily I rarely use that gate...It's where all of the trucks come in and it gets really congested in the morning.

 

[GeneCash]

Just stumbled across this thread. I was following this on Spaceflight Now and a couple other places that have now decided it's a non-story and are no longer updating as of 3 or 4 days ago. It's good to hear it's contained.

Thanks for all the info.

On 09/24/2016 at 9:34 AM, Jovus said:

I hope some point soon they find out what keeps causing these fires.

Or, if it's arson, catch the stand-up guy and make him pay.

One of the news stories said there hadn't been a fire there in 40 years, so I assume it was some incredibly dry tinder all over the place that was no problem for a downed power line to light it all off.

[Kryten]

Latest update is that all fires are confirmed 100% contained, and they're planning to be fully operational on Monday.

[Jovus]

Sooooo... are we back to go for launch for the 26th?

[Rybo]

I got back from Sequoia NF today. I highly recommend it! It's probably the most surreal place I've ever been. I'll get some pics up after I get them off of my phone.

I confirmed with my supervisor that base is mostly back to normal. Still a huge firefighting presence and movement on south base is limited in some areas. I'll try to get info on potential WV4 launch date and window if I can. 

[Scotius]

On 25.09.2016 at 10:57 PM, GeneCash said:

One of the news stories said there hadn't been a fire there in 40 years, so I assume it was some incredibly dry tinder all over the place that was no problem for a downed power line to light it all off.

Actually, semi-regular fires are beneficial not that harmful to the environment. Because dry detritus on the ground gets destroyed every 2-3 years, it doesn't have the chance to pile up and become the fuel for a truly devastating fire. Paradoxically, our modern system of early detection and extinguishing fires before they spread makes things worse. Fires are rarer, but when they get out of control, they become truly monstrous.

[Rybo]

Didn't really get much info other than they (LM, ULA, 30th Space Wing) have been having meetings all day today that are expected to continue into tomorrow. It's still pretty smoky and you can still see what looks like active flames but it'll be easier to tell tonight when it's dark.

[Rybo]

Today I was able to get some more info about a few things. Currently, WV-4 launch remains unscheduled but is likely to occur sometime between 10/10-10/15. The only thing currently preventing launch is that the SLC is still operating on generator power. The power lines themselves are down because the fire burned the poles to the ground. Launch can't proceed until they are repaired and they are back on the VAFB UPS system (uninterruptible power supply). If those repairs take longer than expected for some reason, launch date could slip later into October or November.

If it were to slip even later there is talk about reorganizing the entire schedule to ensure that other ULA customer needs are met. ULA has 1 primary Atlas V launch team and they work both coasts. With 6 total Atlas V launches in the next 5 months (WV4, NROL-79, SBIRS, GOES, Echostar, and AEHF), you can see why they might need to change the scheduling to make their other customers (read: their customers with larger budgets) happy.

[Rybo]

Further update...probably the last for a while since I'm finally headed back to home base. VAFB is still a madhouse of contractors and people all trying to figure things out. SLC-3 is still on generator power and there is still no firm date for WV4 (which will almost certainly delay the NROL launch in December). At this point the pessimist in me suspects that WV4 will be lucky to launch before the end of the year and that NROL-79 will be early spring. I'll keep my ears open back home but I certainly won't have access to the information that I have here.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Rybo

[Ten Key]

On 9/29/2016 at 1:02 PM, Rybo said:

If it were to slip even later there is talk about reorganizing the entire schedule to ensure that other ULA customer needs are met. ULA has 1 primary Atlas V launch team and they work both coasts. With 6 total Atlas V launches in the next 5 months (WV4, NROL-79, SBIRS, GOES, Echostar, and AEHF), you can see why they might need to change the scheduling to make their other customers (read: their customers with larger budgets) happy.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country. . .

 

 

Quote

Ironically, this new weather satellite (GOES-R) is now at risk because of the weather.  As of October 5, Hurricane Matthew is on track to hit Florida's Space Coast with some fury.  The GOES-R spacecraft is at Lockheed Martin's Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, near Cape Canaveral and NASA's Kennedy Space Center.  NOAA's John Leslie said in an emailed statement that "the team preparing NOAA's GOES-R spacecraft for launch has taken appropriate safety measures to secure the satellite at its present location....GOES-R is contained in a building that can withstand strong (category 4) hurricane conditions. After the effects of Hurricane Matthew subside, NOAA and NASA will carefully assess the spacecraft and provide an update on its status."

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/revolutionary-goes-r-weather-satellite-ready-for-launch-apogee-motor-no-concern

[Vanamonde]

The hurricane has one or two threads of its own. Please take that discussion there. 

[Rybo]

As I'm sure most of you are aware, Worldview is scheduled to go on 11/6.

Furthermore, a little birdie told me that NROL-79 is tentatively scheduled for Feb/14.

[Rybo]

A new little birdie told me it's now moved up to Jan/27.

[insert_name]

42 minutes ago, Rybo said:

A new little birdie told me it's now moved up to Jan/27.

Worldview 4 or NROL-79?

Edited November 1, 2016 by insert_name

[_Augustus_]

59 minutes ago, insert_name said:

Worldview 4 or NROL-79?

Worldview 4 is later this month.

[Rybo]

WV-4 is launching on the 6th of this month. NROL-79 was delayed because WV-4 was delayed and the new tentative date is Jan/27. Hope that clarifies.

[Rybo]

WV-4 bumped to the 9th of this month. NROL-79 moved up a day to Jan. 26th. 

[Rybo]

If there's anything you should know about this business in the real world it's that it is extremely dynamic. WorldView-4 is now slated for the 11th of this month. The launch date of the 9th exceeds the battery life of the batteries on the Atlas and they must be removed, conditioned, and recharged at the ULA battery lab in Denver. Normally this could induce up to several months delay but instead the WV-4 team has coordinated with the NROL-79 team and they will be removing the batteries from AV-068 which still have several months remaining in their lifespan. This may or may not further delay NROL-79 depending on how quickly the battery lab can get them turned around.

The ripple effect of the fire is incredible.