ULA successfully launches U.S. spy satellite
Capitalism in space: Using its Delta-4 Heavy rocket, the most powerful in its rocket family, ULA today successfully placed a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite into orbit.
It was also revealed in this article that ULA plans a total of seven launches in 2019, including today’s launch, the fewest in a year since ULA was formed in 2007 from a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The standings in the 2019 launch race:
1 China
1 SpaceX
1 Japan
1 ULA
The U.S. leads in the national standings 2 to 1 over China.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: Using its Delta-4 Heavy rocket, the most powerful in its rocket family, ULA today successfully placed a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite into orbit.
It was also revealed in this article that ULA plans a total of seven launches in 2019, including today’s launch, the fewest in a year since ULA was formed in 2007 from a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The standings in the 2019 launch race:
1 China
1 SpaceX
1 Japan
1 ULA
The U.S. leads in the national standings 2 to 1 over China.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Remember back on 18-19 December when there were five launches planned in less than 24 hours?
* 09:11 EST (14:11Z) SpaceX Falcon 9 with GPS III from the Cape
* 09:30 EST (14:30Z) Blue Origin New Shepard uncrewed suborbital launch from Texas
* 11:37 EST (16:37Z) Arianespace Soyuz with CSO 1 French imagery satellite from French Guiana
* 20:57 EST (01:57Z) ULA Delta IV Heavy with a US spy satellite from Vandenberg
* 05:40 EST (10:40Z) ISRO GSLV with an Indian military geo comms satellite from Sriharikota
… and only the GSLV launched on time.
* The Soyuz was delayed one day due to high altitude winds.
* The Falcon9 was scrubbed at T-0:07:01 due to a temperature sensor problem, then again two days later for weather, then yet again two days later for high upper level winds, and finally launched five days after the initial attempt.
* The Delta IV Heavy initial launch attempt was on 7 December but was scrubbed due to problems with the holdfire circuitry. That was repaired and they tried again two days later, but scrubbed at T-0:00:07.5, moments before engine start, due to detection of high hydrogen levels on the pad suggesting a leak. They first thought it was due to a bad sensor and retargeted 18 December, but that was scrubbed due to high winds. Their 19 December attempt was scrubbed 12 minutes before launch when they again detected the hydrogen leak. That led to a much longer stand down and the eventual determination of a faulty valve which was only leaking at cryogenic temperatures. With a new valve in place yesterday’s launch finally went off without a hitch.
* The New Shepard Flight 10 was scrubbed about an hour before launch due to ground infrastructure issues. While repairing those problems they discovered additional systems which needed to be addressed so they put off the launch until the new year. As of two days ago, they were targeting a launch tomorrow, 21 January. The NOTAM restrictions are for 08:30 – 15:00 EST, and they have not yet announced a launch time.
Blue Origin delayed their New Shepard Flight 10 until Wednesday due to high winds in the area.
Some very nice photography in the Ars article on the ULA launch: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/fire-engulfed-the-delta-iv-heavy-rocket-on-saturday-and-thats-normal/
Ars Technica has some great photos of the ULA launch. I had noticed apparent toasting of the boosters in previous photos, but wasn’t confident about what was going on. Not sure how to provide a link, so in two pieces: arstechnica.com
science/2019/01/fire-engulfed-the-delta-iv-heavy-rocket-on-saturday-and-thats-normal
Blue Origin New Shepard Flight 10 is on for today (Wednesday, Jan. 23) originally scheduled for 09:50 EST / 08:50 local (CST) / 06:50 PST, but looks to be running about 8 minutes late.
Live webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E-3Bk2wpxo
… and a successful flight by New Shepard. Unofficial statistics:
* Mission Launch Time: 09:05 a.m. CST
* Max Ascent Velocity: 2,226 mph / 3,582 km/h
* Crew Capsule Apogee: 350,775 ft / 66 miles / 107 km
* Mission Elapsed Time: 10:15
(I also noted a max booster descent velocity of 2,603 mph at T+6:13)
That wraps up the “five in one day” from five weeks ago.
Best video was perhaps the “up the pipe” shot of the booster coming in for a landing, which unfortunately cut away to other cameras about 15 seconds before landing.
T+0:00 happens at 42:32 in the video linked above.
Kirk: You might have wanted to post this comment in my post on the New Shepard flight.