Groundtrack...
26 minutes to go!
Posted on 09/04/2013 1:53:30 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
Rocket: Minotaur 5
Payload: LADEE
Launch date: September 6, 2013
Launch time: 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT on 7th)
Site: Launch Pad 0B, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
City/State: Wallops Island, Va.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013 UPDATE Technicians lifted a NASA moon probe on top of a Minotaur rocket on Saturday, crowning an eight-story, five-stage booster set for an historic liftoff from Virginia on Sept. 6.
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a $280 million mission to measure the dynamics of the moon's tenuous atmosphere, was hoisted atop the Minotaur launcher on pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virgnia's Eastern Shore.
The 844-pound LADEE satellite was enclosed inside a 92-inch diameter payload fairing with the Minotaur's fifth stage - a Star 37FM solid-fueled motor built by ATK.
The fifth stage will spin up and fire to inject LADEE into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth. LADEE's on-board propulsion system will propel the spacecraft on a transit trajectory toward the moon, where it will enter orbit on a mission to sample the lunar atmosphere, solve the mystery of the moon's levitating dust, and demonstrate long-range laser communications from deep space.
LADEE's mission is projected to last about 160 days.
The launch is scheduled for 11:27 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6 (0327 GMT on Sept. 7) at the opening of a four-minute launch window. The mission is the first launch of a moon mission from Wallops, which has launched more than 14,000 rockets since its establishment in 1945.
The LADEE mission marks the first flight of a new version of the Minotaur rocket family.
The Minotaur 5 features five solid-fueled rocket motors, a mix of surplus rockets from the U.S. Air Force's stockpile of decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles and commercially-procured motors built by ATK.
The U.S. Air Force uses Minotaur rockets to launch small military research satellites, but the LADEE mission is the first time NASA will fly a primary payload on the Minotaur. The launch was arranged through a special agreement between NASA and the Defense Department, which manages the Minotaur program with Orbital Sciences Corp., the rocket's prime contractor and operator.
The Minotaur 5 rocket's three lower stages, the Peacekeeper SR118, SR119 and SR120 motors, were stacked on launch pad 0B on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12. The booster's Star 48BV fourth stage was added to the Minotaur on Aug. 17.
The Minotaur 5 was assembled inside a mobile gantry and mounted on a concrete pedestal. The gantry will be moved away from the launch pad a few hours before liftoff.
The Minotaur launch team plans a mission dress rehearsal Sept. 3, and the launch readiness review Sept. 4 will give approval for final flight preps and the countdown.
They probly have the Death Laser hidden inside.
Have no idea.
After the Chicoms are able to land on the moon, they will quickly mine and colonize the surface.
Then they will militarize the battle space. They will have the high ground.
Then again, we may self destruct way before then...
5.56mm
5.56mm
Antares is scheduled to launch 17 Sept.
You gonna be able to see this?
the chinese will strip mine the place.
Looking forward to it!
Me, too! My nephew is on the Antares 1st Phase Launch Team. Proud as can be!
I am about 90miles south of DC. I am going to go out and look for it, but I am guessing it will be below the trees.
Looks like you’ll see the rocket about 40 secs after launch.
How do you get threads into the Breaking News or Front Page these days?
I saw a shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral while in Orlando. looked like a big bottle rocket. The next launch we drove to the space center and watched it from about seven miles away, much better view and remarkably loud.
Yes, the smaller rockets are up and away in hurry.
Just saw it here in south jersey. Nice plume. My nephew’s watched it on the beach in Ocean City - far better view.
It is a very clear night out tonight however.
Here is a heads up for the next few launches for this month that are as follows:
14SEP2013 Falcon 9/Cassiope
17SEP2013 Antares/Cygnus 1
18SEP2013 Atlas 5/AEHF 3
I heard one of the recaps, it sounded like they had
some problems but they have 21 days to figure them out.
Haven’t checked in today.
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