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1 posted on 09/03/2014 8:53:02 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
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To: Jack Hydrazine

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/012/status.html
From SpaceFlightNow.com:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
SpaceX is planning a launch attempt as soon as Saturday morning to deliver the AsiaSat 6 telecommunications satellite to orbit.

The Falcon 9 is reserved on the U.S. Air Force’s Eastern Range for a launch opportunity Saturday, a week-and-a-half after SpaceX postponed the mission for a comprehensive data review.

Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, said last week the review was a mission assurance exercise focusing on ensuring the Falcon 9’s ability to detect and recover from in-flight anomalies.

SpaceX’s prototype Falcon 9R rocket — used to test reusable launcher technologies — self-destructed in a test flight over Central Texas on Aug. 22. SpaceX said the Falcon 9 would be susceptible to the same problem that caused the loss of the Falcon 9R, but Musk said officials wanted to make sure.

Saturday’s launch window opens at 12:50 a.m. EDT (0450 GMT) and runs until 4:04 a.m. EDT (0804 GMT).

The 224-foot rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad on a 32-minute flight to put AsiaSat 6 into an egg-shaped geostationary transfer orbit.

Owned by AsiaSat of Hong Kong, the spacecraft will beam video broadcasts across China and service data networks in Southeast Asia under a leasing arrangement with Thaicom.

The flight will mark SpaceX’s fifth launch of the year.

The weather forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with isolated showers during Saturday’s launch window, with a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff.

A tropical wave will move toward Central Florida on Thursday, bringing moisture, clouds and rain chances, according to the official Air Force launch weather forecast.

“On Friday, rain showers persist over the Space Coast, but should begin to diminish by Saturday morning as the wave’s influence wanes,” forecasters wrote. “The primary launch day weather concerns are the cumulus and thick cloud rules.”

Meteorologists predict scattered clouds at 3,000 feet and broken clouds at 15,000 feet, with southeast winds of 8 to 12 mph and a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

There is also a 60 percent chance of good weather if launch is delayed 24 hours to Sunday morning.


2 posted on 09/03/2014 8:54:29 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Folks soon forget about launch delays. Exploding vehicles and wasted payloads make a more lasting impression. Better safe than sorry.


3 posted on 09/03/2014 10:29:47 PM PDT by Dagnabitt (Amnesty is Treason. Its agents are Traitors.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

It woke me up at zero-dark=thirty last night - too late to see it by that time tho.


5 posted on 09/07/2014 8:05:18 AM PDT by shove_it (The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen -- Dennis Prager)
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