Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (Orbital ATK) thread

[tater]

@sevenperforce and other mid Atlantic people might get a crack at seeing this.

[insert_name]

Pegasus going up on Sunday, no webcast and USSF is being secretive about the payload other than it's a "space domain awareness" satellite

https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/06/12/hush-hush-military-satellite-ready-to-ride-pegasus-rocket-into-orbit/

[SOXBLOX]

I'm figuring this is a prototype for the upcoming hypersonic weapons tracking megaconstellation. The MDA has been studying this for a while now. The only alternative is "to wallpaper the Earth with radars", so it's a pretty good deal.

https://spacenews.com/u-s-would-need-a-mega-constellation-to-counter-chinas-hypersonic-weapons/

[tater]

 

 

Apparently slid a couple hours because of storms.

[tater]

Launch in a little over 8 min

Real video:

 

Looks like a scrub possible, they are having some issues they are working...

 

Might have reset whatever system was throwing the bad telemetry?

Green now.

Such a tiny thing.

[SOXBLOX]

Here's a piece on the USSF Pegasus launch.

Well, here...

It took less than four months to design, test, and integrate this payload, which is nicknamed Odyssey. Still no details on the mission. They're CLASSIFIED.

[tater]

 

[StrandedonEarth]

Render looks fairly realistic, until they tacked on the TIE* plumes...

 

* - Triple Ion Engines

[bigboibru]

Does anyone know what this thing is that tears off the lower stages of the Minotaur I straight after launch. I think it has something to do with the Minuteman II booster, but I'm not really sure.

Reference Image: 

[tater]

43 minutes ago, bigboibru said:

Does anyone know what this thing is that tears off the lower stages of the Minotaur I straight after launch. I think it has something to do with the Minuteman II booster, but I'm not really sure.

It's to chill the booster even though it is a solid. The Minuteman missile was housed in solos that were underground (cool), and air conditioned. Wasn't designed to sit out on a pad in the sunlight.

[bigboibru]

41 minutes ago, tater said:

It's to chill the booster even though it is a solid. The Minuteman missile was housed in solos that were underground (cool), and air conditioned. Wasn't designed to sit out on a pad in the sunlight.

Ah, ok.

But then how come the SRBs used on the Shuttle and SLS Block 1/1B, which also use APCP as a propellant, don't need insulation?  Is it because they also use PBAN (polybutadiene acrylonitrile) as a propellant? Or is the insulation just put inside the booster instead, rather than tearing off at launch. I suppose this would've made sense for the Space Shuttle, as since the boosters were recovered there wouldn't be a need to get new insulation for every launch.

[tater]

7 hours ago, bigboibru said:

Ah, ok.

But then how come the SRBs used on the Shuttle and SLS Block 1/1B, which also use APCP as a propellant, don't need insulation?  Is it because they also use PBAN (polybutadiene acrylonitrile) as a propellant? Or is the insulation just put inside the booster instead, rather than tearing off at launch. I suppose this would've made sense for the Space Shuttle, as since the boosters were recovered there wouldn't be a need to get new insulation for every launch.

I'm unsure. Shuttle had SSMEs to pick up any variability in thrust due to temperature regimes I suppose, so it might just be a margin thing. Shuttle had decent margin for variability (and throttleable engines), and perhaps Minotaur I is much tighter margin wise due to not really being designed as a launch vehicle.

[tater]

ISS resupply in 3 days:

@sevenperforce 5:30 pm... would be better slightly later, but it's not that far from DC.

[tater]

The above vid embed is still good. Live in 6 hours.

[tater]

 

[tater]

Live

[tater]

 

Cygnus separation.

[RyanRising]

Pretty smooth. As always, I wish we had rocket cams, but the telemetry's a decent substitute - no shortage of info there. And, of course, it's always nice to see these things go off without a hitch.

[tater]

11 minutes ago, RyanRising said:

Pretty smooth. As always, I wish we had rocket cams, but the telemetry's a decent substitute - no shortage of info there. And, of course, it's always nice to see these things go off without a hitch.

Yeah, rocket cam is always a win. Watching a vehicle gain orbit in real time is incredibly cool.

[tater]

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

What's with the 'Windows' sound? (0:44ish).

[DDE]

On 6/13/2021 at 7:28 AM, insert_name said:

Pegasus going up on Sunday, no webcast and USSF is being secretive about the payload other than it's a "space domain awareness" satellite

https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/06/12/hush-hush-military-satellite-ready-to-ride-pegasus-rocket-into-orbit/

 

On 6/13/2021 at 4:43 PM, SOXBLOX said:

I'm figuring this is a prototype for the upcoming hypersonic weapons tracking megaconstellation. The MDA has been studying this for a while now. The only alternative is "to wallpaper the Earth with radars", so it's a pretty good deal.

https://spacenews.com/u-s-would-need-a-mega-constellation-to-counter-chinas-hypersonic-weapons/

I'm "meh" on this assessment. Option 2 would be a low-orbit, decentralized SBIRS - and would have very little to actually do with hypersonics, since it would target ballistic missiles in the boost phase, where having an HGV or a conventional conical RV makes no difference.

Thing is, Option 2 has nothing to do with space domain awareness, which explicitly concerns orbital targets.

It sounds like Odyssey could be similar to Canada's Sapphire.

[tater]

 

 

 

 

 

[tater]

 

 

[tater]

 

@sevenperforce