Posted on 12/12/2014 6:21:58 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine
The countdown begins anew for tonight's launch of the Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:13:30 p.m. local time (10:13:30 p.m. EST; 0313:30 GMT). "Any of the folks who get to watch this launch, which will be an evening launch, will really get to see a show both in sound and light produced," said Lt. Col. Jim Bodnar, 4th Space Launch Squadron commander at Vandenberg.
Last night's initial countdown was halted due to a bleak weather forecast. Conditions are predicted to improve for tonight's try, with a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions.
"We've got a weather squadron here on base that provides us frequent updates on the weather, including probabilities of violations of the many weather constraints," Bodnar said.
Rollback of the mobile service tower from around the rocket is expected in about three hours. Once the gantry is removed, crews at the pad will make preparations to systems and equipment before the site is cleared of all personnel for fueling.
Supercold liquid oxygen begins flowing into the Centaur upper stage, followed by the Atlas first stage. Liquid hydrogen fuel loading for Centaur will be completed a short time later.
A final hold is scheduled when clocks hit the T-minus 4 minute mark. That will give the team a chance to finish any late work and assess the status of the rocket, payload, Range and weather before proceeding into the last moments of the countdown.
"Looking forward to NROL-35. So many people...so much preparation...so much riding on the Atlas 5...so much fun to be a part of," tweeted Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander and the launch decision authority.
Is there anything Raytheon on board? DH works for Raytheon but does not discuss any details unless they are already public knowledge.
Something seems a little pucky with SpaceFlightNow.com’s website. Ever since they did a overhaul of it things haven’t been quite the same.
I just found this thread, so I’m late to the party. Looks like they held it up until I got here.
: )
Atlas five had its maiden flight in 2002, but the RD-180 engines are Ruskie which has its roots in the Soviet Energia rocket project that was used to loft the Buran shuttle orbiter in to LEO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_V
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180
Go Atlas 5!
Go NROL-35!
90 seconds to liftoff!
60 seconds!
Off she goes in to the wild blue yonder!
The livestream was the pits. Had the kids gathered in here to watch, but the stream was almost totally froze up.
Glad the rocket worked better than the stream! :-)
The way that thing left the pad it has a lot of power
Thanks for posting this, it was a successful lift off.
7:23 p.m. local (0323 GMT)
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket has flown into a pre-arranged news blackout following jettison of the rocket’s payload shroud. The veil of secrecy surrounding the launch of this clandestine satellite cargo means no further information about the progress of the ascent, upper stage engine firings or release of the payload will be announced in real-time.
7:22 p.m. local (0322 GMT)
T+plus 3 minutes, 20 seconds. The two-halves of the Atlas 5 rocket nose cone encapsulating the spacecraft have separated, exposed the satellite to space. Also jettisoned was the Forward Load Reactor, a two-piece deck that rings the Centaur stage to support the bulbous fairing during launch.
Thanks Jack. Caught it in time. Can’t quite see the trail from Reno. Not like living in Cocoa watching the orbiters go. LOL! Pretty good size fairing but probably not unusual for an NRO sat.
Did you watch it at the link I provided at post #18? It worked great for me.
Anyone get to see it through the clouds?
Dam i got a good view of it outside for about 45 sec in a clear spot in the sky about when it staged...considering the weather that was really good.. like a big skyrocket
In case you missed these stories about the Falcon 9 launch on the 19th.
First rocket landing in Space Coast history could happen in weeks (Launch 16DEC2014/1431 EST)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3234709/posts
SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9 boot December 9th on a floating platform and then reuse it
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3231054/posts
Yeah. Maybe it was our crappy DSL. lol...
Sounds like you need to attach an RD-180 to your DSL.
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