Posted on 11/14/2017 7:30:43 PM PST by BenLurkin
If the Zuma launch goes well, it will mark SpaceX's 17th launch of 2017. If the landing goes off without a hitch, it will be the company's 20th overall successful landing. This includes landings on drone ships at sea as well as on land.
Very little is known about the Zuma mission, as no government or commercial entity has claimed it.
Usually, even the National Reconnaissance Office the branch of the government responsible for maintaining spy satellites will say when a payload is theirs while keeping the mission details classified. But for some reason, whatever agency is behind Zuma isn't coming forward.
All we know is that the aerospace and defense giant Northrop Grumman was asked by the government to procure a launch vehicle for the mission and it chose SpaceX, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman said via email. The spokesman also added that Zuma will be headed to low-Earth orbit, which is the region of space about 1,200 miles above the planet.
Zuma calls to mind two missions launched in 2009 and 2014, according to industry publication Spaceflight Now. Those missions, called PAN and CLIO, were also secret and unclaimed by any government entity.
(Excerpt) Read more at mashable.com ...
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Zuma is headed for low Earth orbit (LEO), which extends to about 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) above the planet. LEO’s most famous resident is the International Space Station, which usually zooms around Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 km), completing one lap every 90 minutes or so.
Wednesday’s launch is scheduled to occur from KSC’s historic Launch Pad 39A the former site of Apollo moon mission and space shuttle liftoffs during a 2-hour window that opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT on Nov. 16).
https://www.space.com/38772-spacex-launching-secret-zuma-mission.html
Much better than the fireworks at Disney.
Isn’t this how Farscape started?
Skynet...
” SpaceX is launching a secret mission to space Wednesday. Here’s what we know so far.”
Wait. If it’s secret, why is there an article about it?
DARPA
+1. Exactly.
Zuma’s inclination will also be the same as the ISS.
from the NASAspaceflight feed: [snip]
There are approved FCC licences for an RTLS launch 1390 from 39A on November 10th.
1446-EX-ST-2017:
https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=80568&RequestTimeout=1000
1318-EX-ST-2017:
https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=80217&RequestTimeout=1000
bttt
and from the nut barn:
Nibiru shock claim: spacex to launch secret planet x probe tonight - codename zuma
Lifestyle News
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D3Lu-ph2sLro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOVfUL1XbTA
LIVE: Zuma payload SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch 11/16/17 - NASAs Kennedy Space Center
Live Stream TV News
Scheduled for Nov 16, 2017
WATCH Live stream coverage: Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASAs Kennedy Space Center with the Zuma payload for the U.S. government. The Falcon 9s two-hour launch window opens at 8 p.m. EST Thursday (0100 GMT Friday) from pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceXs live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztTUDCGC99Y
Static fire test 11/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3IvbBBuhkI
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